Skip To Main Content

Houston Christian University Athletics

OFFICIAL SITE OF HCU ATHLETICS
HCU ATHLETICS
ESPN Plus Logo
10-MarcusGreene(FIU)
Juan DeLeon Creative
89
Winner UTSA UTSA 2-3,0-0 AAC
87
Houston Christian HCU 0-3,0-0 Southland
Winner
UTSA UTSA
2-3,0-0 AAC
89
Final
87
Houston Christian HCU
0-3,0-0 Southland
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
UTSA UTSA 47 42 89
Houston Christian HCU 46 41 87

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

MBB: HCU thwarted by UTSA as late rally and buzzer-beater fall short

Huskies rally from double-digit deficits in second half; now hit road for three straight



HOUSTON, Texas —- Houston Christian University battled back from an 11-point deficit late in the second half, but a shot at the buzzer to tie rattled off the rim as the Huskies fell to UTSA 89-87 in Sharp Gym on Monday night. 

Bonke Maring opened the scoring for HCU with a baby hook off the glass, and then Marcus Greene would score the next 11 points for the Huskies. The spurt included three from long range, and HCU trailed 14-13 with 13:42 to play in the first half. Moments later, Jay Alvarez would score on a driving layup to knot the game at 17 just ahead of the 12-minute media. UTSA then began to assert themselves on the glass and in the paint, with offensive stick-backs from Chandler Cuthrell and Massal Diouf giving the visitors a 27-21 lead at the 9:28 mark. A Christian Tucker three-ball would give the Roadrunners their largest advantage of the night at 13, 35-22, at the 7:42 mark.

The Huskies would then slowly begin to chip away at the lead, with a good bit of help from Michael Imariagbe. A bucket in the paint got the lead back under double-digits, 44-35 with 4:09 to play, and moments later, he would get an offensive board and follow off a missed free throw to pull HCU to within five, 45-40 with 2:38 to go. His layup with 53 seconds in the first frame cut the lead to one, and the hosts would enter the lockeroom down just a point, 47-46. 
UTSA would push the lead back to double-figures right out of the intermission, as a Dre Fuller Jr. three-ball put the Runners ahead 56-46 just under three minutes in. The Huskies would answer back, cutting the lead to five a couple of minutes later on a beautiful give and go on the baseline, as Bonke Maring found Jay Alvarez for a driving dunk to make the score 58-53. 
 
The two teams would then trade baskets until Carlton Linguard Jr. cleaned up his own miss with a follow up bucket to give UTSA a double-digit cushion once again at 70-59 with 11:20 to. The Huskies continued to mount bursts, and a steal and breakaway dunk from Maring pulled HCU to within five once again, 70-65 with a little over nine minutes to go. 
Again the Roadrunners pushed the lead to 11, 78-67 on a Trey Edmonds dunk, and they still led by 11 with 5:40 to go after Isaiah Wyatt's bucket before HCU began its final push.

Jay Alvarez made a driving layup from the left wing and completed the three-point play out of the four-minute media timeout, to pull HCU to within five, 82-77. His jumper at the two minute mark pulled the Huskies to within four, and Pierce Bazil knocked down two free throws to cut the deficit in half again, 87-85 with 1:38 to play.  Adante Holiman split a pair of free throws for UTSA, giving the visitors a three-point lead, 89-86 with six seconds left. The Roadrunners then fouled Imariagbe with three seconds to go. Imariagbe made the first free throw and intentionally missed the second. The ball bounded out to Bruce Carpenter, but his floater bounced awry, as the Roadrunners held on.

HCU shot 44% on the night, but just 19% from three-point range. The Roadrunners didn't fare much better from the arc, hitting just 30%, but went for a 49% clip from the field overall, while holding a 41-38 edge on the glass. The Huskies got 50 points in the paint, and committed just 10 turnovers. 

Greene finished with 23 points to lead the Huskies, and added five rebounds and two assists. Jay Alvarez had 19 points and Imariagbe posted his first double-double of the season with 17 points and 11 caroms. Bonke Maring had a solid night all-around, putting in 16 points to go with five boards, three assists and three steals. 

Dre Fuller Jr. led all scorers with 24 points for UTSA. Tucker added 15 and eight assists, while Linguard Jr. and Cuthrell each had 10 points and six rebounds for the Roadrunners, now 2-3 on the season. 

HCU falls to 0-3 on the season, and now embarks on a three-game swing away from home. The Huskies will begin the stretch with a Black Friday matchup against Oklahoma State in Stillwater before heading to Fort Worth for a game next Monday at TCU. 

#DawgsUp 
 
Print Friendly Version