HOUSTON, Texas —- Houston Christian University dropped a tough one in the first of two straight at home, as it fell 83-74 to Florida International on Wednesday night in Sharp Gym. The Huskies mounted several second-half rallies, but each one was staved off by the visiting Panthers, who held on down the stretch for their first victory of the season while spoiling the home opener for HCU.
The Huskies jumped out to an early lead, as a breakaway dunk by
Pierce Bazil and a jumper from
Michael Imariagbe gave HCU an 8-3 lead just before the first media. Moments later,
Bruce Carpenter went coast-to-coast to give the Huskies their largest lead of the night, 14-8, with 11:50 to play in the first half.
FIU would then start to heat up from long range. Three straight three-pointers, the final by Peter Krivokapic, gave the Panthers a 19-18 lead at the 8:51 mark. With the score tied at 21-all, the visitors then went on a 9-0 run, capped off by a Mohamed Sanogo dunk with 4:34 to go to push ahead 30-21.
Tristan Moore converted two free throws to stop the spurt and a layup by Imariagbe got the Huskies back to within six 32-26 with just over two minutes to play in the first frame. FIU would answer quickly with eight straight points to take their largest lead of the half at 40-26. Moore would convert a technical free throw, then hit a 25-footer at the buzzer to make the score 40-30 FIU heading into the halftime break.
Out of the intermission, the Panthers got out of the gates in a hurry with eight straight points, finished off by a Arturo Dean three-ball that pushed the lead to it's largest of the night, 48-30 just two minutes into the second session.
HCU wouldn't go away however, and slowly began to chip away. Five points from
Pierce Bazil on an and-one and a driving bucket pulled the Huskies to 50-37. Back-to-back paint scores from
Marcus Greene and
Bruce Carpenter inched the Huskies a little close, 57-49 at the under-12 media.
A baby hook from
Chigozie Achara got the Huskies to within six, 61-55 and a little later, Greene would knock down a triple and Carpenter followed with a pair of free throws to cut the lead to seven, 74-67 with 4:28 to go. The Huskies would get no closer however, as FIU matched every quick burst by HCU to hold on down the stretch for the win.
HCU ended the night shooting 54% from the floor, including a blistering 63% in the second half but struggled overall behind the arc (14%) and at the charity stripe (60%) while also committing 26 turnovers which led to 33 points for FIU.
FIU shot 47.9% on the evening and also struggled from the free throw line, knocking down just 61%. The Panthers shot 38.7 from the three-point line, hitting 12-31 to offset a 46-32 disadvantage in the paint to the Huskies.
Pierce Bazil had 16 points, four rebounds and three assists to pace the Huskies. Carpenter had 15 points, three rebounds and three assists in his Sharp Gym debut, and
Michael Imariagbe added 14 points, five rebounds and four blocked shots.
Bonke Maring led HCU with 11 rebounds and four assists.
Dashon Gittens led four in double-digits with 20 points and added eight rebounds for the Panthers (1-3), who bounced back from their tough six-point loss at #13 Miami (Florida) on Monday night. Arturo Dean had 18 points and six assists, while Krivokapic scored 13 and Jonathan Aybar added 11, eight caroms and six assists.
HCU falls to 0-2 on the season and completes the quick two-game homestand next Monday evening when it hosts UTSA. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 pm.
#DawgsUp
