HOUSTON – Five players scored in double-figures and the HCU men's basketball team used a red-hot shooting night to take down the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders, 90-78, in Southland Conference action on Saturday night in front of a raucous crowd inside Sharp Gym.
The teams traded scores in the early going with the score tied 4-4 three minutes into the game. HCU (7-13, 4-3 SLC) guard
Maks Klanjscek knocked down a three to put the Huskies ahead 7-4, a lead they would hold the rest of the half.
Sam Hofman made a driving layup and two possessions later,
Brycen Long drilled a transition three from the wing to push it to 12-6.
A few minutes later, a pair of Long free throws made it an eight-point game, 16-8, in the Huskies' favor with 12:13 on the clock. The Islanders' (11-9, 4-3 SLC) Ross Williams hit a three of his own four minutes later that made it a one-point game, 20-19. HCU used a 7-0 run, holding TAMUCC scoreless for more than three minutes, to get out to its largest lead of the half, 30-21, but the Islanders stormed right back to keep things close. Another Williams triple with 2:45 to go in the half cut it to a three-point game and the HCU lead stayed between five and one the rest of the half before ultimately taking a 39-38 lead into the half.
Bonke Maring opened the second half with a layup before the Islanders used a 7-2 burst capped by a Simeon Fryer three to go up 45-43. On the next two TAMUCC possessions, HCU forced turnovers and turned those into five points thanks to a Hofman layup and an
Andrew King three to take a 48-45 lead. The Huskies wouldn't trail the rest of the way.
The Huskies' lead grew to 53-47 but TAMUCC answered with the next six points to even things up at 53-53. A six-point run by HCU made it 59-53, a lead that would stay between four points and nine points until the Islanders got a Trevian Tennyson three followed by a pair of free throws from Jalen Jackson to cut the HCU lead to just three, 75-72, with 4:16 left. Freshman
Pierce Bazil answered with his fifth three-pointer of the night and the Huskies' lead remained at least six the rest of the way en route to the double-digit win.
Klanjscek led the Huskies with 20 points and six rebounds, connecting on 6-of-15 from the floor and 7-of-8 from the foul line. Maring was nearly perfect from the field, making 8-of-9 for 16 points while adding six rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocked shots. Bazil dropped in 15 points off the bench, hitting 5-of-8 from behind the arc.
Hofman finished with 14 points and five rebounds, making 5-of-8 from the field and 3-of-5 from long-range. Long made 8-of-8 from the foul line and scored 11. King ended the game with a career-best nine assists to just three turnovers and scored five points.
Tennyson led all players with 25 points, shooting 7-of-14 from the floor and 4-of-7 from three. Terrion Murdix had 17 for the Islanders and Williams finished with 13. TAMUCC shot just 37.1 percent (23-of-62) from the field and 29.6 percent (8-of-27) from three. The Islanders were solid from the line, making 24-of-29 (82.8 percent)
HCU ended the night shooting 53.8 percent (28-of-52) overall and 50 percent (11-of-22) from three while also making 23-of-30 (76.7 percent) from the charity stripe. TAMUCC held a 37-32 advantage on the boards and the two teams were equal in the turnover department with 11 miscues each.
A road trip to Natchitoches, La. to face Northwestern State on Thursday, Jan. 26, and Texas A&M-Commerce in Commerce, Texas on Saturday, Jan. 28, awaits the Huskies.
