HOUSTON – HCU fell in heartbreaking fashion on Saturday night in Sharp Gym, dropping a Southland Conference matchup to Nicholls, 92-91, in a game that saw 17 ties and 13 lead changes.
Bonke Maring completed an and-one with a layup and the free throw to put the Huskies (7-17, 4-7 SLC) ahead 11-10 before Nicholls (11-11, 6-4 SLC) went on a 16-4 run over a stretch of more than six minutes to lead 26-15. HCU came back with three-pointers from
Sam Hofman,
Brycen Long and
Maks Klanjscek as part of a 9-2 run that pulled the Huskies back within four, 28-24.
The Colonels scored the next four points but HCU would pull back as close as five a couple of times before Nicholls took a 42-32 lead on a Tyrease Terrell triple with 3:13 on the clock. A minute later, with 2:19 left in the half, Long made a layup to start a 10-2 run to close the half with a Klanjscek steal and three just ahead of the buzzer to cut the Huskies' deficit to just two, 44-42, at the break.
Pierce Bazil made a pair of free throws to open scoring in the second half and Maring scored after a defensive stop to give HCU its first lead since early in the first half, 46-44. During the next five-plus minutes, neither team led by more than three with multiple ties and lead changes but a five-point burst from Hofman on consecutive possessions gave HCU the 60-56 lead with 13:07 on the clock.
Nicholls came right back with the next six points to regain the advantage. With 8:30 to go, Lance-Amir Paul hit a fast break layup to put the Colonels ahead five, 74-69, before Klanjscek answered with a three. Pierce Spencer made a free throw for the Colonels to make it a three-point game and the Huskies came back with back-to-back three-pointers from Klanjscek and Long to swing the game to 78-75 in HCU's favor at the 5:40 mark.
The two teams swapped leads for the next couple of minutes and at the 2:14 mark, Maring dropped in a layup to even the score at 85-85.
Andrew King drew a foul with 1:28 to go and a technical foul on Nicholls' Marek Nelson gave the Huskies four shots from the foul line. Long and King combined to make all four and put HCU ahead 89-85. Spencer made a layup on the next possession to make it a one-possession game. Hofman came up with a pair of free throws with 27 seconds left to again push the Huskies' lead to four, 91-87.
Spencer came down the floor on the next possession and hit a three for the Colonels, making it 91-90 with 20 seconds to go. An HCU turnover on the inbound gave Nicholls the ball and Spencer drew a foul with six seconds left and made both, putting Nicholls ahead 92-91. On the final possession, HCU's Bazil got the ball on the move near the Huskies' three-point line with four seconds to go and after contact with a Nicholls defender, lost the ball to end the game.
Klanjscek led all players with a season-high 24 points, making 9-of-14 from the floor and 6-of-11 from three-point range. Long finished the night with 19 points, including three made threes which ties him for fifth on the program's all-time made three-pointers list at 158. Hofman, meanwhile, posted a double-double of 15 points and 12 rebounds. King scored 14 points and added eight assists while Maring ended the game with 10 points, seven rebounds and a career-high four blocked shots.
As a team, the Huskies made 14-of-32 (43.8 percent) from three-point range for the most made threes in a game this season. HCU was also 49.1 percent (28-of-57) from the floor and made 87.5 percent (21-of-24) from the free throw line. Nicholls shot 50.7 percent (37-of-73) for the night. HCU out-rebounded the Colonels, 37-34, but committed 17 turnovers to Nicholls' eight.
The Huskies take to the road for their next two games, beginning this Thursday, Feb. 9, in Corpus Christi, Texas to face the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders before heading on to San Antonio, Texas to face UIW on Saturday, Feb. 11.
