SAN ANTONIO --- Houston Christian University fought back from an early deficit and took a second-half lead before ultimately falling 78-71 to UTSA at the Convocation Center on Saturday afternoon. HCU battled back from down 15 in the first frame to a two-point edge with just over three minutes to play, but couldn't finish things off as the Roadrunners pulled away down the stretch.
The Huskies got off to a slow start, hitting just two shots over the first seven minutes. A deep three-pointer from Primo Spears finished off a 10-0 run for the hosts, pushing HCU into 15-5 hole with 12:58 to play in the first half. Solid defense kept the Huskies close however, as they would hold UTSA scoreless over the next two minutes, and a corner three-ball from
Bryson Dawkins got HCU to within five, 15-10 midway through the half.
UTSA would then get going offensively, as Spears put together seven-point run and the Runners held HCU scoreless over that 3:27 stretch. His pullup jumper just before the under eight-media pushed the lead to 22-10. The run would continue, growing to 28-13 on back-to-back dunks from Raekwon Horton before a back-door drop off from
Trent Johnson handed
Bryson Dawkins a hammer at the 3:18 mark.
The Huskies then turned things around a bit. Consecutive triples from
Julian Mackey and
D'Aundre Samuels preceded a layup from
Trent Johnson, and suddenly the lead was cut to 10, 33-23. Mackey then knocked down a deep three with 31 seconds to play to cap the 13-5 run get the deficit to seven before a layup at the buzzer by Mo Njie gave UTSA a 35-26 lead at intermission.
HCU continued it's aggressiveness with three dunks in the opening minutes coming out of the break, capped by a blocked shot and run-out for a breakaway slam by Dawkins. A step-back jumper by Dawkins was followed immediately by a drive and second-chance bucket from
Demari Williams, cutting the UTSA lead to five just before the first media timeout of the second frame.
Mackey knocked down a three and then got a runner in the lane to cut the margin to just four, 47-43 with 14:15 to go. After forcing a tough shot right at the shot clock on one end, Dawkins would score in the paint and Mackey would hit again from deep, splicing into the lead to just one, 49-48 right at 13 minutes to play.
A pair of free throws by Williams would knot things at 51 out of the media timeout, and seconds later Mackey was fouled on a jumper, and canned one of two for the first HCU lead of the day, 52-51 just a tad under the 11-minute mark. A three-point play by Raekwon Horton gave UTSA the lead back, 54-52 but four straight points from HCU, capped by a nice find by Mackey to Rogers underneath gave HCU the lead right back.
Williams would split a pair of charity shots for the Huskies before Spears answered with two of his own to tie the game at 60 with just under seven minutes to play. Mackey then reciprocated with two from the line to push the lead back to two before a three-pointer from Damari Monsanto gave UTSA a one-point lead. A driving layup from
Bryson Dawkins then gave HCU a one-point lead again, 66-65 as the two teams hit the final media timeout of the game with 3:19 to play.
Horton then converted a strong drive of his own, and finished off the conventional three-point play giving UTSA a 68-67 lead. After a missed three-ball by Dawkins, the Runners went to the free-throw line again,with Spears cashing in an one-and-one to make it a three-point game in favor of the hosts with 2:28 remaining in regulation.
Trent Johnson would get to the line with 1:25 for his first free throws of the season, and he calmly converted both to draw HCU to within one.
Primo Spears then nailed a floater in the lane with 58 seconds on the clock, pushing the lead to three. Dawkins missed a runner in the lane with UTSA grabbing the board and Spears being fouled. Spears canned both from the line, and the Roadrunners would make six straight free throws down the stretch to hold on for the victory.
The Huskies shot just 38% on the afternoon from the floor, including 29% from the arc. UTSA was 47% from the field to offset 25% shooting from distance, but went 23-25 from the line compared to 17-22 for HCU.
Julian Mackey led HCU with his second straight 20-point effort, and third of the season. He went 4-10 from deep to finish with 20 to lead a trio of Huskies in double-digits.
Bryson Dawkins had 16 points while
Demari Williams matched his season-high with 11 and five rebounds.
Peyton Rogers had eight points and a season-best nine boards while
Trent Johnson had six points, three boards and a team-high five assists.
UTSA evens its record at 3-3 on the season behind a season-high 31 points from Primo Spears, who went 11-25 from the floor and 7-8 from the line while also dishing out a team-high five assists. Raekwon Horton finished with 19 points and nine rebounds while Damari Monsanto chipped in 11 points.
The Huskies fall to 2-6 on the season, having lost four in a row by a combined 14 points. HCU will now return home to Sharp Gym for a pair of games as the Southland Conference slate starts in earnest next week. HCU will host East Texas A&M on Thursday night at 7 pm followed by a 3:30 pm tilt against Northwestern State on Saturday afternoon.
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