Smith hits winner, Texas A&M-CC clips Northwestern St 67-65

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas -- Myles Smith scored the game-winner on a jump shot from 12 feet with less than a second on the clock, but Texas A&M-Corpus Christi still had to survive a full-court pass and a twisting scoop shot by Northwestern State for the 67-65 win Wednesday night.

Sean Rhea scored a career-best 17 points with eight rebounds for Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (4-9, 1-2 Southland Conference) and the last-second winner put Smith at seven points for the game. Tre Gray added 10.

Iziahiah Sweeney scored a career-high 26 points for Northwestern State (3-11, 0-3) with five 3-pointers, and Ishmael Lane added 20 points on 8-for-11 shooting. Malik Metoyer caught the last-gasp pass, but his shot from five feet didn't fall.

Sweeney and Darian Dixon scored the first seven points as Northwestern State bolted out of a 30-30 halftime tie while the Islanders opened the half with two turnovers and a miss, didn't score for more than four minutes but caught up quickly after a 7-2 run.

The game was tight down the stretch with the Demons tying 65-65 after a pair of Dixon free throws with eight seconds left.