| Senior Travis Gabbidon eclipsed 20 points for the third game in a row on Saturday. |
CORPUS CHRISTI ? Senior Travis Gabbidon topped 20 points for the third consecutive game with a game-high 25, but Texas A&M-Corpus Christi used balanced scoring in an 80-66 victory over UTSA on Saturday afternoon at Dugan Wellness Center.
The loss snapped a three-game road winning streak for the Roadrunners, who fell to 11-6 overall and 2-2 in Southland Conference play. The Islanders improved to 11-9 and 5-0. The game was played at the Islanders’ new on-campus recreational sports facility due to the American Bank Center being booked with a circus all weekend.
UTSA shot just 33.3 percent (23-for-69) from the floor, including 5-of-29 (17.2 percent) from downtown, and was outrebounded 45-30.
Gabbidon added nine rebounds in nearly posting his third consecutive double-double, and the Phoenix native has tallied 71 points in the last three games.(23.7 pg). Sophomore Devin Gibson pitched in with eight points and the reigning NCAA steals champion and current national leader added six thefts to his season tally that now stands at 63.
Justin Reynolds led the Islanders with 15 points, while Filip Toncinic, Kevin Palmer and Shamar Coombs added 13 apiece. AMCC shot 57.4 percent (31-for-54) from the field and held a 49-31 advantage in the paint.
The Islanders led by as many as 13 in the first half and owned a 37-25 advantage at the break behind 53.6-percent shooting.
Gabbidon scored 16 of his points in the half, but UTSA struggled to find the bottom of the net from behind the arc, making just 1-of-13 from downtown.
The Roadrunners immediately cut the deficit to seven with a 5-0 run to start the second half, but A&M-Corpus Christi responded with an 11-0 run to make it 48-30 at the 16:15 mark.
The Islanders expanded their lead to 26 with just over eight minutes to play and UTSA could only cut it to 14 in the final minutes.
The Roadrunners return home to host Texas State on Wednesday, Jan. 28. Tip is set for 7 p.m. and the game will be televised locally on Time Warner Cable (channel 50).