Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at Houston Baptist, 8:00 PM Eastern, hbuhuskies.com
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The New Orleans Privateers, despite an upset loss this past weekend to Northwestern State, continue to lead the way in the Southland Conference. However, they have not yet clinched the regular season title, and a battle for the #2 seed in the conference tournament is still ongoing as well. This battle is an important one, as the top two teams will receive a bye into the Southland Tournament semifinals next week. Heading into play tonight, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Stephen F. Austin are locked in a two-way tie for second place, just a game behind UNO. Houston Baptist is only one game behind the two of them and still within striking distance as well. Corpus Christi will be in Houston tonight to take on the HBU Huskies in a huge game that could help decide just which teams get those top two seeds.
Houston Baptist (15-12 overall, 10-6 in conference) has been one of the conference’s hottest team, having won six consecutive games entering play tonight. That streak included a 7 point win over the weekend at Lamar. Four players scored in double figures in that win, led by 18 points off the bench for Atif Russell. Keep an eye on Josh Ibarra tonight as well, as he has already picked up eight double-doubles this season. Corpus Christi (18-9 overall, 11-5 in conference) has been even hotter than Houston Baptist, having won 9 straight games. The Islanders are led by one of the conference’s best players, Rashawn Thomas. Thomas has scored over 20 points in 7 of the 9 games in the winning streak and has five double-doubles over that stretch. If Houston Baptist cannot find a way to slow him down tonight, the Islanders may stretch that streak to 10. The Huskies were not able to do so the first time these teams met, back on February 1, when Thomas scored 34 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in an 11 point Corpus Christi victory.