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HOUSTON -- Houston Christian University fell into a double-digit hole midway through the first half and never recovered, falling to Northwestern State University 86-73 on Saturday afternoon in Sharp Gym.
 
HCU trailed by just three, 14-11 after a layup by Michael Imariagbe with 15:11 to go in the first half, forcing a Northwestern timeout. The Demons would come out of that first break, and seven points from Braelon Bush aided a 9-3 spurt that pushed the lead to double-figures for the first time, 23-13 at the 12:12 mark.
 
The Huskies would cut the lead back to three once again on a pair of free throws from Pierce Bazil, and later to four on an offensive putback by Nate Hudson, but the visitors from Natchitoches would answer once again. This time, it was an 18-5 run over the remainder of the half, capped on a three from Bush that gave NSU a 44-27 lead. Marcus Greene would hit a step-back three with three seconds left in the half to cut the lead to 14 at the break.
 
HCU couldn't dent the lead for the first five minutes of the second frame, and six straight points from Jae Slack gave NSU a commanding 59-35 margin with 13:14 to play. The Huskies would keep fighting, closing the game on a 23-7 run, highlighted by two triples from Dominic Capriotti.
 
The Demons shot 50% from the three-point line and got 49 points from their bench to bolster their efforts on the afternoon, while HCU shot just 41.5% overall.
 
Marcus Greene led HCU with 19 points. Jay Alvarez had 14 and five rebounds while Capriotti rounded out the double-digit trio with 13 on 3-8 shooting from the arc. Bonke Maring added eight points, seven boards and four assists.
 
Northwestern placed four in double-figures, paced by Bush and Cliff Davis, each who hit three triples. Bush finished with 19 points and Davis 15, while Duane Posey and Chase Forte added 11 and 10 for the Demons, now 9-19 overall and 7-8 in the SLC.
 
HCU falls to 6-19 overall and 4-10 in the Southland.. The Huskies will return to action on Monday in the middle game of the three-game homestand, hosting Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Tip-off in Sharp Gym is slated for 7 pm.
 
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