SAN ANTONIO — Rashawn Thomas tied a career high with 30 points and he added nine rebounds to lead Texas A&M-Corpus Christi to an 85-79 win over UTSA on Saturday afternoon at the Convocation Center.
Ryan Bowie paced the Roadrunners (1-9) with 25 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the floor to go along with a 10-of-12 effort at the free throw line. The senior nearly finished with a double-double with eight rebounds. Nick Allen tied a season high with 11 points, while Gino Littles added 11 points of his own.
UTSA shot 52 percent in the second half and 40.4 percent for the game, and it tallied a season-high 16 assists.
Meanwhile, Thomas scored 16 of his game high in the first half and went 11-of-19 from the field for the Islanders (7-2), who won their sixth consecutive contest and snapped a four-game skid against the Roadrunners. Brandon Pye and Hameed Ali chipped in with 13 points and 10 points, respectively.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi shot 45.9 percent in the contest and scored 34 points in the paint.
The Roadrunners hit four of their first seven shots, including a 3-pointer from Bowie, as the teams kept the game close early. UTSA could not grab the lead, but it never trailed by more than four points during the first 12 minutes.
Trailing 23-20, the home squad jumped ahead for its first lead of the afternoon with a 7-0 spurt that was aided by a technical foul on the Islanders bench. J.R. Harris started the run with a triple before Bowie hit the technical free throws and Christian Wilson drained a pair at the charity stripe for a 27-23 lead with 7:50 to play in the half.
However, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi hit three straight jumpers and turned up its defense as it outscored the Roadrunners 20-4 the rest of the period to take a 43-31 cushion to halftime.
Thomas opened the second half with a basket to give the Islanders their largest lead of the afternoon, but Bowie cut the deficit to 50-43 minutes later with back-to-back 3-pointers.
The Islanders pushed the lead back to double digits before UTSA went on a quick 8-2 spurt and a 56-52 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi advantage.
A.J. Cockrell, who finished with six points, started the stretch with a layup and free throw and Wilson added a pair of freebies. Harris then capped the spurt with a trey to pull the home squad within four.
But once again, the Islanders responded and rebuilt a double-digit cushion, 70-56, with a 14-4 run that ended on a Thomas jumper with six minutes remaining.
UTSA made one more charge in the waning minutes as it pulled within six points three times, but it could not get closer. Littles’ half-court heave at the buzzer banked in to provide the 85-79 final.
UTSA will be back in action with an 11:30 a.m. contest against East Central Oklahoma (5-2) on Wednesday, Dec. 16 at the Convocation Center.