HCU at Texas A&M-Commerce
Houston Christian University continues its stretch away from home when it takes on Texas A&M Commerce in a 1 pm matinee Saturday at The Field House in a game pitting two teams looking for their first conference win of the campaign. It is also the front end of a reversed Saturday twin-bill with the ladies, who will tip-off upon completion of the men's contest.
HCU dropped it's second straight game to open the Southland slate on Monday night, falling to rival Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 81-59 at American Bank Center. The Islanders started the game on an 8-0 run and the Huskies could never climb out of the hole. TAMUCC met HCU charges in each half with 10-0 runs, the latter of which put the game to bed.
Michael Imariagbe would lead the blue and orange with 13 points, while
Jay Alvarez and
Pierce Bazil chipped in 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Alvarez continues to lead the Huskies at 15.1 points per game.
Marcus Greene had just his third non-double-figure scoring night of the season at Corpus on Monday to see his scoring average dip a notch to 14.2 points per outing. He dishes out 3.2 assists, which is 11
th in the SLC.
Imariagbe upped his average to 12 points per night, and is now second in the league in field goal percentage, shooting at a 57.9% clip on the season. He also ranks third in the SLC in boards per, pulling down 8.4 a game, two spots ahead of
Bonke Maring, who is at 7.6 per to go with his 9.4 points. Maring is also 10
th in the league in steals at 1.5 per game.
The Huskies face a TAMUC team also sitting on 0-2 in the SLC after falling 88-85 at New Orleans on Monday night. The two teams have met eight times over the years, most recently splitting a home and home during Commerce's first campaign as a member of the Southland last season. HCU won 68-59 in Sharp Gym on January 12 but the Lions avenged that loss just over two weeks later, winning 77-76 on a buzzer-beating layup in Commerce on January 28.
TAMUC saw it's overall record dip to 6-9 after dropping its first two games in league play by a combined nine points. The Lions fell to McNeese at home in their opener before the heart-breaking loss at New Orleans on Monday night. HCU and Commerce have faced three common opponents in their non-conference schedules, each facing Texas A&M, SMU and TCU.
6'9 sophomore forward Jerome Brewer leads the way for the Lions, placing fifth in the league with his 15 points per game on 53% shooting from the floor while also grabbing 4.8 boards. A senior-led backcourt of Kalen Williams (13.1 ppg and 2.8 assists) and Tommie Lewis (10.8 ppg and 4.3 rebounds) completes a trio of double-digit scorers for a team averaging 74.5 points per night.
The Huskies will play the final game of the trifecta, it's third on the road in eight days, when it takes on Northwestern State on Monday.
#DawgsUp
