NATCHITOCHES, Louisiana --- Houston Christian University made a furious rally down the stretch but came up just short, falling to Northwestern State 69-64 at Prather Coliseum on Monday. Down 20 with 12 to go, the Huskies pulled all the way to within two with a chance to tie in the final seconds.
The game got off to a somewhat slow start with both teams trying to get an early feel.
Jay Alvarez scored the first six points for the Huskies, who would trail 8-6 when the first media finally hit with 14:19 on the clock.
Out of the media, Alvarez would hit two free throws and then another bucket in the paint to push the Huskies into the lead 10-8. The hosts would answer with a quick four points and a Chris Mubiru layup gave the Demons the advantage back. Each team would then miss their next three shots, and another late media would finally hit at 10:44 with Northwestern up 12-10. Out of that timeout,
Dominic Capriotti would nail a three-ball off an inbounds play, and the Huskies were back in front. Moments later, he'd hit another from deep on the left wing to knot things up at 16.
The Huskies would misfire on their next three shots allowing the Demons to begin a run. Braelon Bush would knock down two three-pointers and Chase Forte's steal and dunk finished the 12-2 burst that forced HCU into a timeout just before the final media of the first half, down 28-18.
Two more charity shots from Alvarez preceded a pair of buckets by
Michael Imariagbe inside, cutting the lead to 30-24 with under a minute to go as the Huskies tried to creep back into it. The Demons however would score five quick points, pushing the margin back into double-digits 35-24 heading into the break.
After the intermission, Northwestern picked up where they left off, getting two stops and two scores. The second was a three-pointer on the fast break by Cliff Davis that pushed the lead to 40-24, requiring an HCU stoppage just over a minute into the second frame.
Jay Alvarez would knock down two free throws and a drive to the bucket to stop the bleeding temporarily, but once again the Demons answered with six straight to push the lead to 18 with 15:59 to play.
The teams would trade baskets for the next few minutes.
Dominic Capriotti would hit consecutive three-pointers to cut into the lead, but the Demons pushed the lead back to 19 by the eight-minute break.
After the timeout, the Huskies ramped up the pressure. A three from
Pierce Bazil was followed by two straight buckets from
Bonke Maring to force an NSU timeout with the lead cut to 12. Out of that break, another bucket by
Pierce Bazil on a backdoor cut got the lead to 10, 63-53 finishing off an 11-0 run.
Down 65-55,
Porter Bazil hit a drive in the lane and
Marcus Greene split a pair of free throws to cut the lead to seven with 4:05 to go. Greene would then can two from the line to cut the lead to five. On the inbounds,
Jay Alvarez would get a steal and Capriotti was fouled, and hit both free throws to make it a one-possession game, 65-62 with 2:02 to play.
Bonke Maring canned a pair of free throws to pull HCU to within two, 66-64. The Huskies then forced another stop with 1:25 to play, but on the ensuing possession turned the ball over with 1:09 to go. The Demons got two offensive rebounds and then were fouled, and Justin Wilson split a pair to make the score 67-64 NSU with 16.1 ticks left.
HCU would call timeout for one final look, but a last second three-pointer by
Marcus Greene went long. Jamel White would make two free throws with 1.8 seconds left to close things out.
The Huskies shot just 40.7% from the floor and were 15-23 from the line in the loss, while Northwestern State shot 43.5% and forced 23 HCU turnovers.
Jay Alvarez eclipsed his career-high set just this past Saturday, scoring 28 points and pulling in five rebounds.
Dominic Capriotti had a career-high 16 points while matching his career-best with four triples.
Michael Imariagbe led the Huskies with 10 rebounds.
Northwestern State (4-13, 2-2 SLC) was led by Braelon Bush's 15 points. Justin Wilson had 11, while Chase Forte and Cliff Davis each added nine.
HCU is now 3-12 overall and 1-3 in Southland play. The Huskies will return home this coming Saturday afternoon to host Lamar University in the "
Darius Lee Classic". The game is played to honor former teammate and All-Southland performer Lee, who was tragically killed while home for the summer in Harlem, New York in the summer of 2022.
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