CORPUS CHRISTI --- Houston Christian University dropped the opener of a three-game stretch away from home in conference play, falling 81-59 to rival Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Monday night at American Bank Center.
TAMUCC opened the contest with an 8-0 run highlighted by three-pointers from Jordan Roberts and Garry Clark that forced an early timeout by HCU just two minutes in. The Huskies finally got on the board with a three-point play by
Jay Alvarez that was quickly followed by layup by
Michael Imariagbe.
Down 12-5 coming out of the first media, got a free throw then a bucket inside by
Bonke Maring to cut the lead to four, 12-8.
Porter Bazil knocked down a three-ball to cut the lead to three, 14-11 before TAMUCC got a layup from Dian Wright-Forde to take a 16-11 lead midway through the first half. The two teams would continue to go back and forth, and a
Jay Alvarez back-down to the bucket made the scorer 22-16 Islanders closing in on the eight-minute mark.
The Huskies would keep chipping. A
Michael Imariagbe bucket preceded five straight points from
Jay Alvarez, the final being a three-ball from the top of the key, and the Huskies trailed just 26-23 at the under-four media. The Islanders retaliated with an 10-0 run, capped off by a Lance-Amir Paul floater just before the first-half buzzer, giving TAMUCC a 36-23 lead at the break.
The Huskies outshot the Islanders in the first half, holding the hosts to just 39% from the floor. TAMUCC however would capitalize on 12 HCU turnovers for 18 points.
Maring opened the second half finding a cutting Imariagbe, and then would score himself. The Islanders would continue to match each bucket, and by the first second half media had pushed the lead to 18, 57-29.
The Huskies would keep fighting.
Porter Bazil poked a ball loose in the open court and then finished on the other end, and Maring would muscle in a jump hook.
Dominic Capriotti would can a three-ball from the right wing off a dime from Maring, and HCU trailed 51-38 with just under 12 minutes to play.
TAMUCC would answer once again however. Back-to-back breakaway dunks by Stephen Giwa and Marion Humphrey pushed the lead to 61-38, capping a 10-0 Islander run and forcing the Huskies into another timeout with 8:36 left on the clock, essentially putting the game out of reach.
HCU would finish the game shooting 44% from the floor, but hit just 28.6% from the arc and struggled from the free throw line, hitting 11-22 for 50%. TAMUCC shot 45.5% but just 22.2% from the arc, but dominating 40-30 effort on the backboard aided a 56-36 advantage in the paint.
Michael Imariagbe led the Huskies with 13 points and six rebounds.
Jay Alvarez had 12 points and
Pierce Bazil added 10 points.
Porter Bazil and
Bonke Maring each had five rebounds.
Garry Clark led TAMUCC (9-6, 2-0 SLC) with his second straight double-double in conference action, getting game-highs of 18 points and 10 rebounds. Dian Wright-Forde chipped in 14 points while Jordan Roberts had 11.
HCU falls to 2-11 overall and 0-2 in the Southland. The Huskies will continue their stretch away from home with a Saturday/Monday swing later this week to Texas A&M Commerce and Northwestern State. Tip-off on Saturday in Commerce is slated for 1 pm.
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