HCU vs. Lamar in The Darius Lee Memorial Classic, presented by Play Smart, Save Lives
Houston Christian University returns home for the first time in two weeks on Saturday afternoon as it hosts
The Darius Lee Memorial Classic, presented by Play Smart, Save Lives. The game against Lamar University honors HCU's former star forward
Darius Lee, who was tragically killed in the summer of 2022 before his senior season.
The Huskies are coming off a stretch of three road games in eight days in which they went 1-2. HCU sandwiched a win at Texas A&M-Commerce last Saturday in between losses at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Northwestern State. HCU fell to NSU on a frigid Monday afternoon in Natchitoches, Louisiana in its last outing, falling 69-64 after rallying from a 20-point deficit in the second half.
A back-and-forth first half saw Northwestern go on a late run to stretch the lead to double-digits by the break, 35-24. The lead would quickly balloon, and by the eight-minute media, HCU found itself down 20. A three-pointer from
Pierce Bazil and two buckets by
Bonke Maring aided an 11-0 run, and suddenly the Huskies were back in it.
After a scoop and score by
Porter Bazil, HCU would hit six free throws, the final two by Maring that cut the lead to two, 66-64 with just under two minutes to play. Despite continuing to get stops, the Huskies wouldn't score the rest of the way, and
Marcus Greene's three to tie on the final possession went awry.
One game after setting a new career-high in points in the win over Commerce,
Jay Alvarez eclipsed it, scoring 28 against the Demons to lead all scorers.
Dominic Capriotti chipped in a career-high as well, scoring 16 points while matching his single-game best of four triples.
HCU continues to be led by Alvarez, who after missing the last three games prior to the Christmas break, has averaged 21.5 points and 4.3 rebounds through the first four games of conference play. His scoring burst has upped his average to 17.1 points overall.
Marcus Greene is averaging 13.5 points per game and is sixth in the league in field goal percentage at 44.7% while dishing out 3.3 assists, 11
th in the SLC.
Michael Imariagbe and
Bonke Maring continue to handle the backboards for HCU, with Imariagbe's 8.3 rebounds per night good enough for second in the league and Maring's 8.1 sitting at fourth. Imariagbe is averaging 10.9 points while also blocking 1.3 shots per game, fifth-best in the SLC. Maring continues flirting with double-digits, scoring 9.7 points per game. He averages 2.0 assists per game and his 1.7 steals per contest is sixth-best in the Southland.
The Huskies host Interstate 10 rival Lamar for the 29
th time overall with the Cardinals holding an 18-10 lead in the all-time series. HCU and LU split a true back-to-back last season, with each winning handily on it's home floor. The boys from Beaumont won 91-75 at the Montagne Center on February 16, with Sharp, Texas holding serve two days later as the Huskies prevailed 93-74.
Lamar leads the Southland in scoring at 81.4 points per game, and has four players averaging right at 11-plus points per, with another three averaging 8-plus per game.
Terry Anderson, a 6'6 junior forward, leads the Redbirds at 11.8 points and grabs 5.7 rebounds, second on the squad. Sophomore 6'5 guard B.B. Knight is second on the club at 11.7 points while shooting 41.2% from the arc. His 40 made three's is fifth in the SLC. Senior guard Chris Pryor averages 11.4 points and a team-leading 3.6 assists while shooting 39.5% from distance. Adam Hamilton, a 6'9 junior center, rounds out the quartet, hitting at 11.1 while leading the team at 7.2 caroms per contest.
Saturday's game marks the second straight season for
The Darius Lee Memorial Classic, as HCU faced Rice last year. It was begun to honor fallen star
Darius Lee, who lost his life in a tragic shooting in June 2022. Lee, home visiting family in Harlem, New York, was hit by a stray bullet while at a barbeque in walking distance from his home.
An All-SLC player and member of the All-Defensive team in 2021-22, Lee was tabbed the 2022-23 Preseason Player of the Year by the Southland Conference. Later in December, he was awarded the Bachelor's degree which he was one semester away from completing.
(Darius Lee driving against McNeese on March 5. 2022. Lee tied a single-game school record with 52 points in the four-OT win)
This will also be the second game this season played under the banner of the Play Smart, Save Lives initiative. The Huskies faced TCU on November 27 with the game being recognized as the first effort to raise awareness on proper gun usage, safety and storage. The NABC has partnered with the initiative, which was first introduced at the 2023 Final Four in Houston by Head Coach
Ron Cottrell and other coaches around the country. For more information, please visit
www.playsmartsavelives.org.
The Huskies finish up the quick two-game homestand with a Monday night meeting versus the University of New Orleans. Tip-off in Sharp Gym is scheduled for 7 pm.
#DawgsUp
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#DLee23Forever
