HOUSTON -- A late first half dry spell put Houston Christian University down eight at the break, and the Huskies were never able to close the gap, falling to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 91-79 in Sharp Gym on Monday night.
HCU took an early lead 7-2 lead on a running hook by
Jay Alvarez, and led 12-7 just after the first media after a pair of free throws by
Marcus Greene. HCU still led by two, 18-16 after
Tristan Moore hit
Pierce Bazil in stride for a breakaway dunk with 11:48 to play in the half.
The Huskies pushed the lead to four, 22-18 on a free throw by Moore two minutes later. TAMUCC would take its first lead of the game at the 7:29 mark on a layup in the paint by Garry Clark. After the media, the two teams traded baskets, with
Bonke Maring's hook off the glass pulling HCU to within a bucket, 28-26 with 6:23 to go before intermission.
From there, the Huskies went cold and the Islanders capitalized. TAMUCC would hold HCU to just six points, as the Huskies made just one field goal the remainder of the half, allowing Corpus to build it's advantage. A layup in the paint by Dayne Prim preceded five quick points from Jordan Roberts, and the visitors would take a 40-32 lead into the break.
A bucket by Maring and a spin move and score by
Michael Imariagbe cut the lead in half to start the second stanza. The Huskies would hover around for first five minutes of the half, but couldn't make any head way, and still trailed by eight at the 15:29 mark. Garry Clark's second chance layup in the paint gave TAMUCC a 12-point lead, 56-44 with just over 13 minutes left. He would score again three minutes later, keeping the lead at 13, 66-53 with ten to play.
Dian Wright-Fordes layup finished off a five-point burst for the Islanders, giving them a 80-63 margin with just over four minutes left in the contest. HCU would continue fighting as Greene scored 11 points down the stretch as the Huskies cut the lead to nine with 1:32 to play. That would be as close as the hosts would get, as the Islanders hit 8-10 from the free throw line to finish things out.
HCU shot a shade under 47% for the evening, including 38% from the arc. The Islanders conversely connected on 55% from the floor and 85% from the line, hitting 24-28 from the stripe while taking just six three-pointers in the game.
Marcus Greene led all scorers with his first career 30-point effort, knocking down 6-10 from long range.
Jay Alvarez added 16 points and six rebounds as the only other Husky in double-figures.
Michael Imariagbe had nine points and six boards before fouling out, and
Bonke Maring added eight points, five boards and two assists.
TAMUCC, now 18-10 and 11-4 in the Southland, was led by Jordan Roberts and Garry Clark, who scored 25 and 22 points respectively. Dayne Prim added 12 points and eight caroms off the pine.
HCU falls to 6-20 overall and 4-11 in the Southland. The Huskies will play their regular season home finale on Saturday afternoon, hosting Texas A&M-Commerce for "Senior Day" at 3:30 pm, following the women's game at 1 pm.
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