Islanders Hand Men's Basketball 99-56 Loss
Jan. 16, 2006
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders used hot shooting and a 19-6 run to close the first half in handing the University of Northern Colorado men's basketball team its biggest loss of the season, a 99-56 defeat on Monday night at the American Bank Center.
Northern Colorado (2-19) shot just 28.9 percent for the game, its lowest output of the season, while the Islanders (12-6) were the third consecutive Bears opponent to hit 50 percent or better from the field, as they shot at a 56.3 percent clip.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi used a 9-0 run early in the game to give itself some breathing room before the Bears cut the lead to single digits on a trio of trifectas from sophomore guard Sean Taibi. But it was the Islanders 15-0 run late in the first half that cemented Northern Colorado's fate. The Bears committed 16 first half turnovers and trailed 52-25 at the break.
Northern Colorado scored the first two points of the first half before TAMUCC used a 13-0 run to put the game out of reach. The win was the 100th in program history for the Islanders, who began their program in the 1999-00 season.
Taibi's 15 points led the Bears, while Kirk Archibeque added 13 and Erik Olson netted 12. The Bears did hit 24-of-32 from the free throw line, the third consecutive game they have made double-digit free throws.
All 16 of the Islanders players saw action, with 15 of those players scoring at least two points. TAMUCC was led by 16 points from 7'0 center Chris Daniels; Daniels hit on 8-of-11 shots.
The two teams will meet in a rematch in Greeley on Jan. 30 (3:30 p.m. MT).
Northern Colorado returns to action next Saturday night when they face their third straight Division I Independent opponent in Utah Valley State in Orem. Game time is set for 7 p.m. MT.
