HAMMOND, La. – HCU found itself in a quick 8-0 hole and never managed to regain a lead on Thursday night at the University Center on the campus of Southeastern, ultimately falling by a 71-59 final in Southland Conference men's basketball action.
The Huskies (4-11, 1-1 SLC) got off to a rough start with six turnovers early on and found themselves in an 8-0 hole before a pair of
Andrew King free throws got HCU on the board at the 15:36 mark.
Bonke Maring connected on back-to-back buckets to make it a 10-6 game but the Lions (7-8, 1-1 SLC) answered with the next eight points for an 18-6 advantage with 11:20 left in the first half.
A few minutes later, consecutive baskets from Maring and
Sam Hofman pulled the Huskies to within five, 25-20, but another little 6-0 run by Southeastern again made it a double-digit game, 31-20. HCU responded, however, closing the half with a 7-2 burst to trail 33-27 at the half.
The Lions came right back in the second half with the first five points to again lead by double-figures. HCU fought its way back to within four, 41-37, following a
Maks Klanjscek three and a
Zach Iyeyemi layup before another six-point run for Southeaster made it 47-37 with more than 11 minutes left.
Klanjscek spurred the next Huskies' run, hitting a pair of triples and dishing out an assist on a fast break
Pierce Bazil layup at the 9:37 mark to bring it to 47-45, the closest the Huskies had been since less than 30 seconds into the game. Over the next six-plus minutes, the Lions held the HCU to just two points and built their lead to 61-47. HCU was unable to get any closer than 10 down the stretch.
The Huskies shot just 39.1 percent (18-of-46) from the floor and made just 6-of-22 (27.3 percent) from three-point range but were nearly perfect from the charity stripe, making 94.4 percent (17-of-18). Southeastern finished at 42.1 percent (24-of-57) from the field, 37.5 percent (6-of-16) from three and 77.3 percent (17-of-22) from the foul line. SLU took advantage of 22 HCU turnovers and out-rebounded the Huskies 38-27. The Lions held a sizeable 29-12 advantage on the boards in the second half.
Bazil led the Huskies with 12 points and had three assists while King and Klanjscek each finished with 11 points. Hofman grabbed a team-high six rebounds.
HCU makes the trip to the south shore of Lake Pontchartrain on Saturday, Jan. 7, for a rematch with the New Orleans Privateers at 4:00 p.m. in Lakefront Arena.
