Arena #145: American Bank Center: Texas A&M-Corpus Christi vs. Texas-Rio Grande Valley

Next stop in Texas took us to the southeast corner of the state on the Gulf of Mexico to Corpus Christi at the American Bank Center, which represents Arena #145 on Mission 351.  The American Bank Center is home to the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders for the majority of their games even though the arena is located a few miles north of the Islander campus in downtown Corpus Christi.  Only a few games each year are played in the Islanders on-campus facility, though I’m not sure why given the miniscule attendance for this Sunday afternoon contest with the Texas-Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros; the Islanders closest intra-state rival.  The American Bank Center holds around 8,000 people for basketball and on this day there couldn’t have been more than 500 people in attendance.  As a result, the atmosphere was pretty dead save for the Islander band, which did their best to create a little home court environment.  While the atmosphere wasn’t very good, and I was definitely not impressed with having to pay $8 for a souvenir soda cup to add to my collection, the action on the floor was actually pretty good.  I’m typically satisfied if the game is competitive, even if the product itself isn’t the prettiest and that’s exactly how I would classify this game.  The offenses weren’t very good, the game didn’t exactly flow well, but at the end of the day it was competitive throughout with a 3 point margin at halftime that ultimately turned into an 8 point Islander win to close out their Islander Invitiational multi-team tournament for 2019.

Outside the American Bank Center on the shore of Corpus Christi Bay

Pregame inside the American Bank Center

Sitting courtside, ready for the opening tip

Islanders for 3