HCU vs. NORTHERN ARIZONA
Houston Christian University takes on Northern Arizona University to close out its MTE and the four-game homestand on Wednesday night. The Thanksgiving Eve matchup is the first-ever meeting between the Huskies and Lumberjacks.
HCU is now 2-4 on the season after falling to Eastern Michigan University in the first game of its MTE on Monday night. The Huskies rallied from a 16-point deficit with eight minutes to play but fell just short of completing the comeback.
The Huskies clawed all the way back to retake the lead with 1:03 to play but couldn't close things out as the Eagles held on.
D'Aundre Samuels went on a personal barrage from the arc, hitting three in a row from the arc before
Trent Johnson brought the house down with a massive follow up slam, pulling HCU to within four, 67-63 with just over four to play. Samuels then hit his fourth three from the corner in front of HCU's bench, dropping the deficit to a point.
An
Elijah Brooks three-point play gave HCU the lead with 2:08 to go, and a
Peyton Rogers put-back gifted the Huskies their last lead, 71-70 with a minute to go. Four players dented double-digits for the Huskies, led by Brooks and his 17. Samuels finished with a season-high 15 with a career-best four three-pointers. Dawkins ended the night with 12 points and
Julian Mackey added 10, with both players pulling down five rebounds to lead HCU.
The Huskies are led by first-year head coach
Craig Doty, who was hired as the ninth head coach in school history back in March as the program is now in its 59th season. Doty brings 12 years of head coaching experience to the HCU sidelines, having coached on the NJCAA, NAIA and NCAA Division II levels while capturing three national titles along the way. The Huskies have just four players returning from last year's club, as
Pierce Bazil and
Porter Bazil,
Marques Gates and
Nathan Self join a class of 11 transfers, the largest incoming class since the first season of transition back to Division 1 in 2007-08.
Dawkins is the lone HCU player in double-digits on the season, averaging 12.2 ppg to go with 4.2 caroms per night. Mackey dipped just below that threshold on Friday night, and is now turning in 9.2 points to go with three boards and 2.2 assists, which ties him for the team lead with
Elijah Brooks, who chips in 9.8 points and 4.5 rebounds.
Northern Arizona comes into the week on a four-game winning streak, capped on Friday night when Trenton McLaughlin hit a three-pointer with 18 seconds left to give the Lumberjacks a 75-74 home win over Southland rival University of the Incarnate Word. NAU is helmed by Shane Burcar, who is now in his sixth season in Flagstaff and fourth as head coach.
McLaughlin leads the Jacks in scoring at 22.3 points a game while playing a team-high 34.5 minutes per night. The 6'6 senior also averages 4.8 rebounds and a team best 4.1 assists per game. Carson Towt, a 6'8 junior forward, averages 13.2 points, 9.7 rebounds and four assists, while 6'4 junior guard Jayden Jackson gives the Jacks three in double-figure scoring, chipping in 11.2 points per game.
The Huskies have faced just two from Arizona all-time. The game against NAU is just the fifth time in school history that the Huskies have played on Thanksgiving Eve.
Taking it a step further in the spirit of the festive holiday week, the Huskies have played just twice on Thanksgiving Day, the first in a loss at Schreiner in 1992 and the second in a defeat to Arizona State at the 2010 Great Alaska Shootout. HCU is 10-12 all-time on Black Friday, including a 93-91 overtime victory over Wake Forest in 2018.
Folowing the Wednesday night affair, HCU will return to action on Saturday, hitting I-10 for a trip to the Alamo City and a matinee with UTSA. HCU will return to the friendly confines on December 5 and 7 when they take on East Texas A&M and Northwestern State. Those two games open the conference season in earnest and complete the six in seven span at home.
#DawgsUp
