HOUSTON – Career-highs littered the final box score as the HCU men's basketball team picked up its first win of the season on Monday night in Sharp Gym, earning a 119-97 win over Champion Christian. Houston Christian University (HCU), formerly Houston Baptist University (HBU), underwent a name change in September 2022.
In the team's first home game since the death of
Darius Lee in June, Lee was named a starter for the Huskies (1-2) with his #23 jersey displayed prominently on the HCU bench and the team played the first few seconds of the game with just four players on the court.
Ron Cottrell, James Sears Bryant Head Men's Basketball Coach, took the mic shortly before starters were announced to address the crowd and lead a moment of silence.
The Huskies scored the game's first six points but Champion Christian (1-1) answered with the next seven for a 7-6 lead at the 16:30 mark. The Tigers would lead by as many as three, 11-8, before HCU found its footing offensively. An Ariyon Williams three with 9:30 on the clock made it a 23-21 ballgame before the Huskies scored the next nine points to go ahead 32-23 just over a minute later.
A few minutes later, Williams hit a three to drop the HCU lead back to single digits, 36-27, but the Huskies scored the next 11 for a 47-27 advantage with just under four minutes to go in the half. HCU took a 56-39 lead into the intermission.
In the second half, Champion got to within 15, 64-49, before a Huskies run pushed their lead back into the 20s, 75-51, at the 15:31 mark after a Bonke Maring layup. Three minutes later, a
Brycen Long trey gave HCU its largest lead of the game, 84-55.
The Tigers didn't go away, however, getting as close as 13 on a few occasions, including with 5:42 left to play. Maks Klanjscek,
Tristan Moore and
Deshon Proctor scored the next six points for HCU and the Huskies maintained at least a 17-point advantage the rest of the way.
Maring led the Huskies behind career-highs of 27 points, on 12-of-14 shooting, nine rebounds. His shooting percentage of .857 is the third-best single-game mark in program history. The senior center also matched a career-high with three assists. Proctor finished the night with a double-double consisting of a career-best 17 points paired with 10 rebounds and a career-high three blocked shots. He was 7-of-10 from the floor.
Freshman guard Pierce Bazil had the best game of his young career, totaling 17 points and four assists while Klanjscek poured in 21 points with five assists and four rebounds.
Sam Hofman narrowly missed out on a double-double, ending the night with 10 points and nine rebounds to go along with two blocked shots. Moore added 13 points off the bench for the Huskies.
HCU shot 65.8 percent (48-of-73) from the floor, scoring 72 points in the paint, and 57.9 percent (11-of-19) from behind the arc. The Huskies out-rebounded the Tigers 48-27. Champion Christian was led by Ariyon Williams, who scored a game-high 30 points and dished out six assists.
HCU begins play in the Rice Owl Invitational on Friday, Nov. 18, when the Huskies host Western Michigan in Sharp Gym at 7:00 p.m. The Huskies will then host Georgia Southern on Saturday, Nov. 19, before playing the Rice Owls in the
Darius Lee Memorial Classic on Monday, Nov. 21, at Tudor Fieldhouse.
