HOUSTON --- Houston Christian University raced out to big lead in the first half but couldn't hold off a second-half surge by Northern Arizona University, falling to the Lumberjacks 74-71 on Thanksgiving Eve in Sharp Gymnasium. The Huskies led by two with a minute and half remaining, but NAU's Trenton McLaughlin nailed a game-winning three-pointer with two seconds to go to complete the come-from-behind victory and put a damper on career-night efforts from HCU's
Elijah Brooks and
Julian Mackey.
The two teams traded baskets to open the contest, but the Huskies would put together the game's first big run to take control. Brooks had 15 of HCU's first 20 points, the final pair coming after a Mackey three-pointer, and
D'Aundre Samuels' runner ended an 18-4 spurt to give HCU a 24-8 lead halfway through the first frame.
The lead would grow to 19 as Mackey got going on his own hot streak, scoring seven straight points before another layup by Brooks made the score 33-14 with just under six to play in the half. A three-ball by
Pierce Bazil pushed the advantage to 20 for the first time, 36-16, and the Huskies would take a 40-23 margin into the break.
The second half looked to be more of the same, as the Huskies got three dunks within five baskets to start the frame, the final on a steal by
Ivan Reynolds and a drop off to Brooks, giving HCU a 55-36 lead with 14:21 remaining in the game.
From there, the Lumberjacks began to cut into the lead. Trenton McLauglin scored seven straight points as part of an 11-0 run that cut the lead down to eight with 11:35 on the clock. Moments later Diego Campisano put together a conventional three-point play and a three-pointer that pushed the spurt to 17-2 and cut the margin to just four, 57-53 with still 10 minutes to go.
Once again it was Mackey, as the senior sandwiched a trey and another pair of buckets around a Brooks score to push HCU's advantage back up to five 66-61 with 4:51 to play. The Jacks would answer quickly with seven of the next eight, capped on driving layup by Jayden Jackson and a jumper by Monty Bowser that knotted things up at 68.
A mid-range jumper by Mackey gave HCU the lead with 1:37, and after NAU's Campisano scored from deep again,
Ivan Reynolds would hit one of two from the stripe with 24 seconds left to knot things at 71.
The Lumberjacks then got the final possession, and with eight seconds to go McLaughlin dribbled from just inside half court to the left wing, where he deposited a game-deciding dagger, a step-back three-pointer with two seconds on the clock that gave NAU the 74-71 victory. It was the second straight night the Lumberjacks had surged back from a 17-point deficit in the second half to take the lead, as their comeback on Tuesday night came up short as Eastern Michigan held on for a 72-68 win.
It was a tale of two halves shooting-wise. HCU blistered the nets to a 60% clip overall and 44% from distance in the first half while holding NAU to just 33% from the floor and 0-9 from the arc. The script flipped in the second frame, as NAU had the hot hand, making 21-33 from the floor for 63%, including 6-12 from long range, while the Huskies shot 45% overall and made just one of their eight three-point attempts.
The comeback by NAU put a damper on career nights from both
Elijah Brooks and
Julian Mackey, who combined for 57 points on 23-38 shooting on the evening.
Brooks had 29, the third time this season he has eclipsed his previous scoring best, as he made his first 11 shots from the field and also had six rebounds. Mackey outdid his 20-point game at Texas earlier in the season by going 10-19 from the floor and 3-9 from the arc for 28 points. He also pulled down a personal-best eight rebounds to led the Huskies.
Northern Arizona went just 6-21 overall from the arc, but got the biggest one of the game from McLaughlin, who led the visitors with 20 points despite going 2-9 from the arc. Carson Towt had 14 points and eight rebounds for the Jacks, now 6-2 on the season.
HCU matched a season-best shooting on the night, equaling an earlier effort against Rockford by going 28-54 from the field for 51.9%. It was the third straight loss by three points or less for the Huskies, who fall to 2-5 on the campaign.
The Huskies will now turn their attention to an Alamo City matinee at UTSA on Saturday. Tip-off in San Antonio at the Convocation Center is scheduled for 3 pm before HCU returns home for a pair of Southland Conference games the following week.
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