CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS – The University of the Incarnate Word men's basketball team dug themselves too big of a hole to get out of on Saturday night and they lost, 90-69 at Southland Conference rival Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

The Islanders (20-6, 11-3) scored the first seven points and led 42-13 with 8:47 remaining in the first half.  They would go into the half with a 53-23 lead after shooting 64.5 percent from the field and making 7-of-8 from three-point range.

The Cardinals (13-11, 8-5) bounced back in the second half, but they were never able to get the Corpus Christi lead under 20 points.  Kyle Hittle (New Braunfels/New Braunfels HS) exploded for 20 second half points in just 11 minutes on the court.

UIW shot 40.4 percent from the field, made 9-of-18 from three-point range and were 18-of-28 at the charity stripe.  Hittle finished with 23 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the field and was 5-of-6 from the three-point line.  Simi Socks (Coppell/Coppell HS) came off the bench to score 13 points, grab five rebounds and make all nine of his free throws.  Derail Green (Houston/Klein Forest HS) led the team with nine rebounds and four assists.

The Islanders converted 17 UIW turnovers into 26 points.  They shot 56.7 percent from the field, made 10-of-17 from three-point range and were 12-of-24 at the foul line.  Bryce Douvier and Rashawn Thomas each posted double-doubles.  Douvier had 19 points and 10 boards while Thomas added 16 points and 10 rebounds.  Hameed Ali had 16 points, six assists and four steals.  The teams each had 35 rebounds in the game.

The win for the Islanders evened up the season series between the two teams.  The Cardinals are in action on Monday night at 7 p.m. at Houston Baptist University.
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