CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The Southland delivered yet another enthralling contest on CBS Sports Network Monday evening in the matchup between UIW and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. However, the road Cardinals played spoiler to the Islanders, squeezing out a 71-69 win in a much needed spot after leading for the majority of the contest. 

UIW's win came through the outstanding efforts of graduate guard Davion Bailey who scored a 2025-26 Southland regular season-best 36 points on 11 of 20 shooting from the field. Mason Gibson led the scoring for A&M-Corpus Christi with 19 points. The victory moves the Cardinals within the Southland's top eight, the necessary threshold for qualification into the conference tournament in March, and also snaps a four-game skid for the visitors.

Bailey brought his best from the jump, scoring the first 11 points for the Cardinals en route to UIW claiming an 11-5 lead early on. The Islanders kept pace and would tie the game at 26 with 1:45 to play in the first half. But Bailey countered with a quick 6-0 spurt in the final 1:17 of the half to give his team a 32-26 edge going into the break. 

Each attempt at an A&M-Corpus Christi run in the second half was thwarted back by UIW who eventually claimed a 61-51 advantage with 5:38 to play. UIW seemed to deliver the final blow with 1:44 to go when Tahj Staveskie dropped in a circus shot with a free throw added on, making it a 67-60 game. 

However, the Islanders made their final push. Following some missed free throws and miscues on the UIW side, D.A. Houston would tie the game at 69 with three seconds to play and a foul tacked on sent him to the line with a chance to take the lead. But Houston missed the go-ahead shot and committed a foul on the ensuing rebound, sending Staveskie to the line with his own turn to seesaw the result back on the side of the Cardinals. Staveskie sunk both shots, effectively ending the game and giving his team the victory. 

The Southland returns to CBS Sports Network on February 24 when Nicholls visits Lamar.