Morgan State Falls in First Round of Islander Classic

CORPUS CHRISTI, TX ­ Junior guard Travis Bailey poured in his best performance of his collegiate career as he fueled Texas A&M-Corpus Christi to a 98-65 victory in the opening round of the Third Annual Flint Hills Resources Islander Classic, Friday evening in front of 1,509 fans.

Morgan State (1-9, 0-1 MEAC) seemed to have no defensive answer for Bailey.
The San Antonio native scored a game-high 27 points on 9-for-13 shooting from the field and dished out 6 assists with 4 steals.

The Islanders (4-6) were leading 48-41 at intermission, before breaking the game open in the second half with an explosive 25-2 run. Derrick Murphy’s three-pointer with 12:11 remaining in the contest gave A&M-CC a commanding 73-43 lead. The lead continued to grow to as much as 93-54 with 5:15 left.

A&M-CC took an early 17-4 lead in the first five minutes, until Morgan surged on a 24-9 run to tie the game at 28-28 on a three-pointer by Cedrick Barrow. MSU’s only lead of the game came with 4:42 remaining in the half when Barrow completed a rare four-point play.

Brian Evans and Aaron White both scored in double figures for the Islanders with 13 and 12 points respectively. Nick Jason chipped in 10 points.

A&M-CC held a 37-27 advantage on the boards and forced the Bears into committing 22 turnovers. The Islanders also shot a blistering 57.1 percent from the field for the game, and knocked down 5-for-11 from beyond the arc.

UMBC-transfer Sam Brand (Baltimore, MD/Poly) led Morgan State with 16 points and 4 assists as a reserve, while starting point guard Cedrick Barrow (Sacramento, CA/Jesuit) added 13 points.

Morgan State missed out on easy scoring opportunities as they were unable to convert from the free throw line. The Bears shot a dismal
10-for-28 (35.7%) from the stripe.

The Bears will face Texas Southern in the consolation game, Saturday evening. Texas Southern was defeated by the Oakland, 91-88, in the tournament opener.