CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas _ A career night from University of Central Arkansas guard Jordan Howard was not enough to offset a second-half three-point barrage by the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders in a 94-82 loss at American Bank Center.

    Howard, a sophomore from Chandler, Ariz., tossed in 36 points, including 21 in the first half, but the Islanders nailed 14 three-pointers, with nine of those coming in the decisive second half. The Islanders (10-3, 1-0) entered the game averaging just 6.5 three-pointers per game and UCA entered allowing 7.6 per game.

    "A couple of times those guys got loose,' said UCA head coach Russ Pennell, "and we didn't find them. But I thought a couple of times we had a hand in their face. It's just like with Jordan, they guarded him pretty good, too. They were getting after him and he goes 6 out of 7 from the three-point line. Shooters are going to make some shots. 

    "I wish we had done a little bit better job early, because when a shooter hits his first couple, like Jordan did, then the basket gets real big.'

    "The Islanders, leading 45-43 at the break, outscored the Bears 26-9 in the first eight minutes of the second half to break open a one-point game. A&M-CC made its first seven three-pointers of the second half, including three each from senior guards Brandon Pye and Hameed Ali. Pye finished 7 of 10 for 23 points, while Ali was 5 of 10 from beyond the arc and added 20 points. UCA held the Southland Conference's No. 2 scorer and No. 2 rebounder, Rashawn Thomas, to just 12 points and 8 rebound before he fouled out.

    "I never thought we gave in or quit,' said Pennell. "And I told the guys in the locker room, this could be the conference champion. These guys and Stephen F. (Austin) are probably the two best teams in the league. Coach (Willis) Wilson has put together a senior-laden squad that knows how to play. And I told our guys, we stood toe to toe and looked them in the eye.

    "Even when we got down, we took a time out and came out of that and played well. We just kept battling. And that is the key if we're going to become who we want to become. We have to be ultra-competitive. And I saw glimpses of that tonight, and it was impressive.' 

    UCA, down by as much as 22 points in the second half, cut the deficit to 14 on four occassions, the final time on a Mathieu Kamba dunk wtih 1:41 to play. Kamba, in his first start of the season in place of injured guard Jeff Lowery, scored a season-high 17 points, hitting 7 of 10 from the field. The Bears played with just eight players with Lowery out and Mike Martin dismissed from the team earlier in the week.

    "This is about three games in a row that Mathieu has come on,' said Pennell of the sophomore from Calgary, Alberta. "He had a good game at Arkansas State, and played pretty good the other night (against Abilene Christian). We've really been in his ear about being more aggressive, because when he wants to go to the basket, you just can't stop him.'
 
    Howard topped his season average of 15.6 points in the first half with 21 points, including 3 of 3 from the free-throw line with 1.6 remaining in the half when he was fouled on a three-point attempt. The Bears, who led by as much as 11 points in the opening 20 minutes, fell behind by as much as five but closed the gap to 45-43 at halftime after Howard's free throws.

    But the second half was another story as the Islanders dominated, particulary from the perimter. A&M-CC was 9 of 16 from beyond after halftime. UCA finished 7 of 14 from three-point range but made just 21 of 33 (63.6 percent) on free throws. Howard, last year's SLC Freshman of the Year, went 6 of 7 from three-point range and was 10 of 10 at the line. His previous high was 27 points last season against Northwestern State.

    UCA returns home to the Farris Center on Saturday, hosting the Lamar Cardinals at 4 p.m.