Box Score CORPUS CHRISTI – Rashawn Thomas scored 21 points and had 15 rebounds while John Jordan ended with a game-high 22 points to help Texas A&M-Corpus Christi beat McNeese 71-61 in Southland Conference men's basketball action here Saturday night.
 
The loss was the third straight suffered by the Cowboys (6-8, 0-3 SLC) while Corpus Christi evened its record to 7-7 overall and 2-0 in league play.
 
McNeese's Desharick Guidry notched his 11^th double-double of the season with a team-high 20 points and 15 rebounds and Kevin Hardy added 14 points and 11 boards.
 
Six of Thomas' 15 rebounds come on the offensive end with five of those in the second half that led to nine second chance points.
 
"Thomas was the difference of the game," said head coach Dave Simmons. "Their two best players (Thomas and Jordan) out-statted our two best players (Hardy and Guidry).
 
The Cowboys also had another ho-hum night at the free throw line where they made just 11 of 21 while the Islanders hit 23 of 32.
 
"You can't go on the road and miss 10 free throws and win a game," said Simmons.
 
The game was a back-and-forth contest for most of the time with it featuring nine lead changes and five ties. Corpus led 26-25 at the half but was up by 4 until McNeese's Shaun Johnson rattled in a half-court shot at the buzzer to pull the Cowboys to within 1.
 
McNeese took its only lead of the second half 13 seconds into the frame on a Guidry layup to make it 27-26 but Corpus never led by more than 6 through the first 12 minutes. Leading 46-42 with 8:39 to play, the Islanders put together an 8-1 run behind three buckets from Jordan to go up 54-43 with 6:04 to play.
 
Back-to-back baskets by Hardy closed the gap to 54-47 with 5:35 to go but the Islanders came back with six straight points to go up by 13 with 3:23 to play.
 
Corpus hit 11 of 14 free throws in the final 3:23 to help secure the win.
 
"We missed some opportunities in the second half," said Simmons. "We missed a couple of dunks and layups there in the second half and again the free throws."
 
Neither team burned up the nets from the floor. McNeese shot just 37 percent (22 of 59) and Corpus 45 percent (23 of 51). The Islanders hit just 32 percent in the first half but came on strong in the second half by knocking down 14 of 23 for 61 percent.