LAKE CHARLES, Louisiana --- Houston Christian University put up a valiant first half effort but saw McNeese gradually pull away in the second, falling to the Cowboys 87-69 at the Legacy Center in Lake Charles on Monday night. The Huskies trailed by three at the break and by four only moments into the second before the regular-season champs used a sustained run to break the game open.
McNeese jumped out to a 6-2 lead to start, but the Huskies quickly returned fire. A three from
Marcus Greene gave HCU a 7-6 lead, and moments later his three free throws put HCU up two, 11-9. A second three-pointer from Greene capped a 16-5 run, allowing the Huskies to take their largest lead of the first half, 18-11 with 13:25 to play in the opening session.
The hosts would creep back into it, and three minutes later had tied things up at 18 on a Shahada Wells jumper. An Antavion Collum layup would finish off a nearly matching 16-4 run to give the Cowboys a 27-22 edge with a tick under six minutes to go.
Two buckets by
Chigozie Achara were followed by a
Dominic Capriotti triple to help the Huskies knot things at 29 just before the final media of the first frame.
Tristan Moore would connect on a deep three to make the score 32-all with 2:14 to go, and HCU would go into the half down just three, 39-36.
The two teams would trade buckets for the first couple of minutes out of the intermission. A break of the pressure gave
Jay Alvarez a layup to cut the hosts lead to four, 43-39 just two minutes into the frame, but the Cowboys would then score nine consecutive points to grab their first double-digit lead of the night. A steal and layup by Javohn Garcia capped the quick two-minute spurt, pushing the lead to 52-41 and forcing an HCU timeout before the media hit.
McNeese would continue the run, and a three-pointer by DJ Richards with 13:55 to play pushed the Pokes lead to 17, 61-44.
Marcus Greene stopped the run with a baseline jumper and the two teams would then go scoreless for the next two minutes to hit the under-12. A bucket by
Marcus Greene followed an alley-oop finish by
Michael Imariagbe as the Huskies declined to go away.
That would be as close as the Huskies would get however, as McNeese continued to pull away. Consecutive three-pointers from Shahada Wells and Omar Cooper pushed the Cowboys up by 20 and they would cruise home from there.
HCU shot 47% from the floor, but struggled from distance and the charity stripe and were outrebounded 43-29 in the game. The hosts conversely shot 46% from the floor and 40% from three, hitting 12-26 from long range.
Marcus Greene led the Huskies with 23 points, four rebounds and three assists.
Michael Imariagbe had 13 points and eight caroms, and
Jay Alvarez chipped in 11 points.
The Pokes, now 27-3 overall and 16-1 in the Southland, placed four players in double-figures, including two with 20-plus on the evening. Shahada Wells went 4-7 from deep and finished with a game-high 24 points as well as six assists, while DJ Richards went 5-12 from the arc to end with 21. Javohn Garcia had 16 points and CJ Felder recorded a double-double with 10 points and 11 boards.
HCU is now 6-22 overall and 4-13 Southland play. The Huskies will wrap up the regular season slate in Beaumont on Wednesday evening with a Southland Tournament berth on the line when they take on Lamar University. HCU defeated Lamar 78-77 on January 20 in the "
Darius Lee Classic" in Sharp Gym.
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