After becoming the Southland Conference regular season champions two weeks ago, the Texas A&M University-Corpus men’s basketball program came back to win the SLC Tournament on Wednesday, March 8 against Northwestern State University in Louisiana.

The Islanders continue to make program history as they punch their ticket to the NCAA Tournament, aka the “Big Dance,” once again for the 2022-2023 season with head coach, Steve Lutz. 

“I couldn’t be more happy for these guys,” Lutz said. “It is about these guys, and I couldn’t be more proud of them. They deserve it.”

In the semifinals of the SLC Tournament, the Islanders won against McNeese 80-63 on March 7 as they came in with a lot of energy to get closer to winning the trophy. It was a great night for seniors De’Lazarus Keys, Jalen Jackson, Trevion Tennyson, and Terrion Murdix as they each scored high double figures to help lead their team. 

During the championship game, the Islanders started slow in the first half with the Demons leading 26-10. Within the first few minutes of the game, Murdix had a bad spill which resulted in an injury. Once the Islanders faced this initial shock, they adapted and bounced back, pushing harder than ever to win the game 75-71. 

Jackson stepped in to take over the game and help his team win, and ended up earning the SLC All-Tournament MVP accolade. 

“[The MVP  trophy] means a lot just knowing I was able to do whatever I could to help my team get the win so we can go back to the tournament,” Jackson said. 

Stay tuned to the men’s basketball program to announce more details on Selection Sunday to figure out the Islanders seeding for the NCAA Tournament. 

Sources:

• https://goislanders.com/news/2023/3/8/mens-basketball-islanders-repeat-as-slc-tournament-champions-after-winning-thriller-over-northwestern-state.aspx
• https://goislanders.com/news/2023/3/7/mens-basketball-mens-basketball-returns-to-championship-game-after-bouncing-mcneese-80-63.aspx