MORAGA, Calif. -- On a night when Saint Mary's did not shoot particularly well, the 19th-ranked Gaels relied on three things to pull out a win: rebounding, defense and clutch shooting by Joe Rahon.

It added up to a 67-46 Saint Mary's victory over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Tuesday night on the Gaels' home court.

Saint Mary's (9-1) outrebounded the Islanders 45-27 and limited Corpus Christi, a team that came in averaging 82.1 points, to 46 points on 35.3 percent shooting.

"I think we had our best defensive effort, and we did really well on the boards," said Saint Mary's coach Randy Bennett, whose team shot 41.8 percent from the field and made just 10 of 30 3-point attempts. "So that let us get by when we were not shooting it real well."

The defense and rebounding might have gone for naught had it not been some pivotal shots by Rahon.

Saint Mary's got 19 points from Calvin Hermanson and 15 points and 13 rebounds from Jock Landale. Rahon had 14 points and six assists, but the timing of his scoring was critical.

The Islanders (7-3) made things difficult for Saint Mary's in the second half. They reduced a 15-point halftime deficit to seven with 12:22 left, with Rashawn Thomas doing most of the damage. He scored 13 points in the first 8:35 of the second half, including 11 in a four-minute span that made it a 42-35 game.

Rahon then hit a 3-pointer to restore the 10-point lead.

Islanders guard Ehab Amin, who finished with 17 points, cut the deficit to five points with a pair of free throws at the 9:07 mark, but a 3-pointer by Rahon 17 seconds later put a halt to the Corpus Christi surge.

"That guy's got some cajones," Hermanson said of Rahon. "He showed what he's made of tonight."

Rahon added one more 3-pointer with 3:28 left to extend the lead to 12 points, ending Corpus Christi's hopes.

"That's just Joe," Bennett said.

Rahon made 36.6 percent of his 3-pointers last season, but he had made just 5 of 20 from long range in the first nine games this season.

"My shot hasn't been falling, so I kind of owed them some," said Rahon, who sank 4 of 5 attempts from behind the arc Tuesday.

The final margin was 21 points, but the Islanders were very much in the game until the closing minutes.

"I didn't think the final score was really indicative," Corpus Christi coach Willis Wilson said. "We let it get away from us at the end of the first half. If we could find another player or two who could make plays for us ..."

Thomas made plenty of plays for the Islanders, collecting a game-high 22 points and eight rebounds.

"He's a good basketball player," Wilson said. "Very competitive. He's probably a little overworked. He puts a lot on his shoulders."

Saint Mary's dominated the first half. Hermanson made 4 of 7 from 3-point range and scored 18 points before intermission to help Saint Mary's lead by as many as 16 points in the first half.

The Gaels committed nine turnovers in the first half, though, and were not able to shake the Islanders until the final few minutes of the game.

"That's a good team," Bennett said of the Islanders. "They'll do well in their league (Southland Conference)."

NOTES: Texas A&M-Corpus Christi F Rashawn Thomas set a school record for career blocks with his second Tuesday. It was his 171st block, one more than Chris Daniels. ... The Islanders are 0-11 all-time against nationally ranked teams. ... Islanders coach Willis Wilson picked up his 300th career victory Sunday against Texas-San Antonio. ... Saint Mary's plays the last of five straight home games Thursday against South Carolina State. The Gaels begin West Coast Conference play Dec. 29 at Loyola Marymount. ... Saint Mary's ranked third nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.86) before Tuesday's game. The ratio dropped when they posted 17 assists and 13 giveaways against Corpus Christi.