Message Received: Mushila comes up big to help Islanders men clinch Southland title

The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men's and women's basketball teams entered the season with a target on their backs. Each picked to win the Southland Conference for what is believed to be the first time, nine teams took their best shots at the Islanders all conference season long.

Despite a swoon when they dropped three of four, the Islanders men reeled off eight straight to come into their final home week with a shot at history.

Thursday's surprising loss to Texas A&M-Commerce proved to be a speedbump for Steve Lutz's crew as the Islanders refocused and charged in the second half on their way to an 83-75 win against Northwestern State to sweep the Demons and claim the Southland Conference regular season title for the second time in program history.

The Islanders clinched the No. 1 seed in next month's Southland Conference Tournament in Lake Charles, Louisiana and can grab the conference crown all to themselves with a win Wednesday in Commerce.

Special message

Demarcus Sharp proved to be a very large thorn in the Islanders' side with 40 points after A&M-Corpus Christi clamped down and held him to 11 points in the first meeting in December, but Isaac Mushila, with words from his mother fresh in his mind, created his own problems for the Demons.

The senior from the Congo, did not have his mother with him in Corpus Christi for Senior Day due to visa issues, but she sent a video message for the pregame ceremony that surprised him, and left him overwhelmed emotionally to start the game.

"To see that video up there pushed me to go even harder," Mushila said. "She is always in my mind and any time I think about her I just want to play basketball and I want to win everything. Seeing that video, I looked at (Lutz) and told him he really got me on that one. It was surprising and nice to see my mom up there and hear what she said to me."

With his mother on his mind Mushila tied his career high with 28 points, earning his way to the line over and over in the second half, hitting 19 of 24 free throws helping the Islanders catch and overtake Northwestern State after Sharp pushed the Demons ahead 39-34 at the half.

The game was officiated tighter in the second half between the two physical defensive teams and they combined to shoot 46 free throws, playing to Mushila's strengths as one of the nation's best at drawing fouls and getting to the line.

"Isaac is great at drawing fouls. His fouls drawn per game is one of the highest in the country," Lutz said. "I thought the officials did a good job and let the guys play, but both teams were aggressive. We ended up shooting a lot of free throws, which was the difference the first time we played them as well.

"We've been good when we can get easy opportunities in transition, when we rebound the basketball and when we get to the free throw line. That has kind of been our mantra."

Trevian Tennyson scored 11 of his 20 points in the first half, but hit a dagger 3-pointer with 35 seconds remaining to give the Islanders a nine-point cushion, following big 3-point shots from Ross Williams and De'Lazarus Keys in the second half.

After celebrating the Southland Conference Tournament in the Merrell Center in Katy last year, this time the victorious Islanders relished the opportunity to celebrate on their home floor in front of a more than 3,000 on Homecoming at the American Bank Center, a frenzied group that provided a lift when A&M-Corpus Christi needed it.

"It is pretty amazing being able to do this with our fans and getting to celebrate with everybody," Mushila said. "I am enjoying this. I don't even know what to say, I'm just so happy right now."

Women stay in tie for first

The Islanders women also came into Saturday in a deadlock for first place in the Southland Conference, but unlike the men, they didn't have a chance to face the team they were tied with.

Still, A&M-Corpus Christi dominated just about every aspect of the contest in a decisive 82-54 win against Northwestern State, taking care of what it had control over and staying atop the league going into the regular season finale.

Makinna Serrata had 12 points and Alecia Westbrook added 14 points and 13 rebounds on Senior Day as the two joined Hayle Campbell and Kristen Daniels being honored before the game.

"We played as a team today," Serrata said. "It was a bittersweet win, our last home game, but we went out there to play together, have fun and trust each other. Whenever we run the break, it is really good for us, so we know we just had to get it down the court as fast as we can and find the open man."

The Demons swung first in the game, taking a 12-10 lead, but from the midway point of the first quarter the Islanders dominated.

The Islanders tightened the screws defensively, holding Northwestern State without a point for more than four minutes, taking a 36-25 lead into the break.

Any chance of a comeback was quickly doused by A&M-Corpus Christi with a 14-1 surge to open the second half that broke the game open, giving Chadwick an opportunity to pull the seniors out one by one in the fourth quarter to heavy applause from the Homecoming crowd.

Westbrook and Serrata have each surpassed 1,000 points on the season, which last happened during the 2019-20 conference championship season that was prematurely ended by COVID-19.

The Islanders (18-10, 13-4) go into Wednesday's season finale against Texas A&M-Commerce with a chance to share the regular season title.

"We need to finish," Westbrook said. "We know where we stand. We know where other teams stand. As long as we take care of our part, we need to finish."

Chadwick said when the Islanders' talented senior core graduated after the 2020 championship, he knew Westbrook and Serrata, who were a part of the program at the time, would spearhead the next generation, helping lead two seasons of home dominance, including a 24-4 record at the Dugan Wellness Center and American Bank Center, helping the team contend for the league title.

"It is rewarding to see them grow as a basketball player and as a human being and mature," Chadwick said. "It is a culture thing. This was established by players years ago. When Emma (Coleman-O'Bryan), Lex (Bryant), Dalesia (Booth) and Dae Dae (Evans) graduated I had people asking me what I was going to do. We're going to turn it over to the next generation and this generation picked it up and said 'We've got this.'

"We are very proud of the culture we have in our program."

This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Mushila's career night helps Islanders men clinch Southland title