HOUSTON – HCU led by as many as 10 points and then trailed by six in the second half before holding off the McNeese Cowboys, 85-80, in Southland Conference men's basketball action in Sharp Gym on Thursday night.
HCU (10-19, 7-9 SLC) led by three four different times in the first seven minutes of the game, including at the 13:14 mark after
Brycen Long made a layup on a fast break after a
Maks Klanjscek steal. McNeese (8-21, 5-11 SLC) scored the game's next seven points, though, to go ahead 16-12 just a minute and a half later.
Things stayed tight and after a Donovan Oday layup tied the game at 28-28, HCU went on a 7-0 run of its own with buckets on three consecutive possessions for a 35-28 lead with 3:44 to go in the half. The Cowboys got to within three a couple times but a Klanjscek trey just ahead of the buzzer sent the Huskies into the break leading 41-35.
Bonke Maring opened the second half with two layups in the paint assisted by
Deshon Proctor to push the HCU lead to 10. The two teams then traded baskets and the Huskies held a 47-37 lead. At that point, the Cowboys went on a 20-4 run over the span of just over five minutes. During that run, McNeese scored on 10-of-11 possesions.
The Huskies answered with a Maring dunk followed by a defensive stop and a three from Klanjscek off the turnover to pull within one. The score remained close for a few minutes and at the 8:41 mark, Roberts Berze knocked down a three to put McNeese ahead 65—64. The Huskies scored the next seven points, capitalized by a
Zach Iyeyemi layup with 6:19 to go.
With just 3:39 left, a transition three from Long put the Huskies ahead by nine, 78-69, but McNeese answered with a three from Zach Scott and Christian Shumate threw down a dunk to cut it to four. Iyeyemi scored the game's next four points and HCU held an 82-74 lead with 1:27 on the clock. Scott hit a three on the next possession and on the Huskies' next turn down the court, Iyeyemi made 1-of-2 from the foul line to make it an 83-77 game with 1:11 to go. Berze hit another three on the next possession, bringing the score to 83-80 with a minute still to play. HCU turned it over on the next possession but Berze missed a three and Klanjscek drew a foul with 15 seconds left, burying both free throws to put the game out of reach.
Klanjscek led the Huskies with 22 points and seven rebounds while also pulling down four rebounds. Iyeyemi finished with 18 points and five rebounds, shooting 6-of-7 from the floor. Maring ended the game with 14 points and six rebounds while Long had 13 points and
Pierce Bazil added 11.
Sam Hofman led all players with 13 rebounds, tying his career-high, and Proctor grabbed five boards and had three assists.
The Huskies shot 47.7 percent (31-of-65) from the field, 30.4 percent (7-of-23) from three and 69.6 percent (16-of-23) from the foul line. McNeese shot 47.8 percent (32-of-67) overall, 38.1 percent (8-of-21) from behind the arc and 57.1 percent (8-of-14) from the charity stripe. HCU held a 41-36 advantage on the boards and both teams committed eight turnovers.
The Huskies make the trek to Thibodaux, La. for the penultimate game of the regular season against the Nicholls Colonels on Saturday, Feb. 25, at 3:00 p.m. HCU will then close out the regular season at home against Southeastern on Wednesday, Mar. 1.
