HCU vs. NORTHWESTERN STATE
Houston Christian University returns to the hardwood on Saturday, facing off against Northwestern State University. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:30 pm as the back-end of a doubleheader with the women.
HCU had a bye on Monday night, and hits the court for the first time in a week. The Huskies last outing resulted in heartbreak in Hammond, Louisiana, as Nick Caldwell's three-ball with 3.9 seconds to go helped Southeastern Louisiana sneak past the Huskies 81-78 at the University Center.
Jay Alvarez continues to lead the offense for HCU, now 6-18 overall and 4-9 in league play. He is churning out 15.6 points per game while also chipping in 4.6 rebounds and 1.9 assists.
Marcus Greene missed his first game of the year against Southeastern, leaving
Bonke Maring as the only HCU player to start all 24 games this season. Greene is averaging 14.3 ppg, 3.5 rpg and 2.9 apg while shooting 41.9% from the arc, tied for the team lead with
Dominic Capriotti.
Michael Imariagbe has posted 10 double-doubles this year, and leads the Huskies on the backboards, collecting 8.6 caroms per night to go with his 12 points per game.
Bonke Maring adds 9.7 points, seven rebounds and two assists per game.
Capriotti has come on strong since moving into the starting lineup. The freshman is now 39-93 from the three-point line for 41.9%, and is averaging 7.5 points per game. He had a career-high 19 in the loss at SLU last Saturday, tying his single-game best with five treys while also setting a new personal best with five assists in the game.
The game is a rematch of the January 15 game in Natchitoches, when the Demons held off a furious rally down the stretch to defeat the Huskies 69-64 at Prather Coliseum. The two teams, once foes in the old Trans America Athletic Conference (now Atlantic Sun), have met 42 times over the years with the Demons holding a slim 22-19 lead in the series after the win earlier this season. Since becoming conference foes in the Southland, the Huskies and Demons are nearly even, with NSU holding an 8-7 lead in the series.
Northwestern boasts a fairly balanced offense, with just one double-digit scorer, but five scoring six more more and two right on the cusp of double-figures. Cliff Davis leads the way at 14.3 ppg while shooting 39.9% from the arc. Braelon Bush is averaging 9.9 points, 2.2 rebounds and 3.1 assists, while Chase Forte has been a stat-sheet stuffer, going for 9.1 points, 4.1 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.6 steals per game.
NSU, 8-19 overall and 6-8 in the Southland, sits currently in sixth place in league, just 1.5 games ahead of HCU in seventh. The top eight teams make the SLC Tournament in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
The Huskies follow up the game with Northwestern State by hosting both of the A&M's, Corpus-Christi on Monday night and Commerce next Saturday afternoon. The game against TAMU-Commerce will be "Senior Day".
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