HAMMOND, La. —- Houston Christian University suffered heartbreak at the finish line, falling to Southeastern Louisiana University 81-78 at the Pride Roofing University Center on Saturday afternoon. The Huskies knotted the game at 78 with 25 seconds to play, but Nick Caldwell's three-pointer with just under four seconds left gave the hosts their sixth straight victory after a final shot by HCU was errant at the buzzer.
The Huskies got down early, as SLU jumped out to a 13-6 lead after a Dylan Canoville dunk with 13:36 to go, with a three from Alec Woodard thirty seconds later pushing the lead to nine, 16-7 at the 13-minute mark. A dunk by
Michael Imariagbe off a pretty dime from
Dominic Capriotti pulled HCU within five a moment later.
HCU continued to chip away as Capriotti got hot. The redshirt freshman hit four triples in the first half, the final of which gave HCU at 33-28 lead, completing a 13-3 run just before the final media of the first half. Imariagbe would then score six straight points, handing the Huskies a 39-38 lead at the intermission.
The two teams would continue to go back and forth in the second half, with neither team able to get away from the other. Each team would push out to four point leads, with the other chasing them down quickly. Back-to-back buckets by
Bonke Maring would give HCU at four-point cushion, 52-48 with 13:33 to go, but moments later SLU recaptured the lead on two free throws by Browdy Rowbury.
A Roger McFarlane three-pointer from the top of the key pushed the Lions' lead to five with just under eight minutes to go and Nick Caldwell's layup with 6:48 to play made the score 68-63 SLU. The Huskies would then score six straight, capped off by a nifty basket high off the window by
Jay Alvarez helped HCU pull back in front, 69-68.
Dominic Capriotti's three-ball with 4:08 to go was answered 10 seconds later by Alec Woodard, knotting the game once again at 72. McFarlane would hit another three and Caldwell a layup in the paint with 45 seconds remaining to give the Lions as two-point lead. The Huskies came right back, and went inside to Maring, whose hook off the glass evened the two schools for the last time on the day. Caldwell would think sink the Huskies hopes with a triple from straightway with 3.9 seconds to play. HCU's final attempt was no good, and the hosts had secured their sixth straight victory.
The late SLU heroics put a damper on a fine offensive afternoon for the Huskies, who shot 50.8% from the floor and 42.9% from the arc. HCU outrebounded the hosts by seven in a game that saw 13 lead changes and 10 ties.
Dominic Capriotti set a career-high with 19 points, matching a career-best with five three-pointers as well as setting a new personal best with five assists.
Michael Imariagbe also had 19 points and grabbed nine rebounds before fouling out.
Jay Alvarez scored 17 points and cleared eight caroms, while
Bonke Maring completed the quartet by chipping in 12 points and six rebounds.
Nick Caldwell, the reigning SLC Player of the Week, had 24 poitns and 10 rebounds to pace the Lions. Roger McFarlane added 17 points and seven rebounds and Alec Woodard scored 17. Roscoe Eastmond, the conference leader in assists, dished out 15 helpers in the win. The Lions shot 45% from the floor and 47.6% from the arc in evening their overall record at 13-13 while improving to 8-5 in the league.
HCU falls to 6-18 on the season, dropping to 4-9 in the SLC. The Huskies will have Monday night off as their lone bye week in the conference schedule hits, returning to action next Saturday when they begin a three-game homestand against Northwestern State.
#DawgsUp
