HCU at LAMAR
Houston Christian University completes the final road swing of the regular season with a trip to Beaumont where it will take on Lamar University. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 pm inside the Neches Arena at the Montagne Center.
The Huskies are coming off a hard-fought loss in Lake Charles, Louisiana on Monday night, where they fell 87-69 to regular season champion McNeese. The Huskies held a seven-point lead early and went back-and-forth most of the first half before trailing by three, 39-36 at the break.
Down four just two minutes into the second half, the Huskies saw the hosts use a quick 13-5 burst that forced an HCU timeouts before the first media. The run grew to 22-8 by the 14-minute mark and the Pokes would stay in control the rest of the way.
Marcus Greene finished with 23 points to lead the Huskies, while
Michael Imariagbe had 13 points and eight rebounds.
HCU and Lamar have met once this year previously, that coming on January 20 in the "
Darius Lee Classic" in Sharp Gym. The Huskies led by one at the half, and the two teams would go at each other bucket for bucket for the entirety of the second. The Cardinals would take a 74-72 lead before Greene hit a three-ball with 36 seconds left to recapture the advantage for HCU.
Cody Pennebaker's three from the corner in front of the Lamar bench would nudge the Redbirds ahead once more, but again it was Greene, whose triple from the left wing with 1.9 seconds to go gave the Huskies the lead, sending Sharp Gym into a frenzy. Lamar's last ditch heave was off, and HCU had a 78-77 win.
Greene had 22 and hit his only two three-pointers in the final 36 seconds.
Jay Alvarez had 14 points while Imariagbe had 13 points and 11 boards for the Huskies. Chris Pryor had 18 to lead Lamar.
Jay Alvarez and Greene are each averaging 15 points a contest for the Huskies. Alvarez also averages 4.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists, while Greene chips in 3. 5 rebounds and 3.1 assists while leading the team in three-point percentage at 43% per game.
Michael Imariagbe has 11 double-doubles on the season, and is averaging 11.6 points, 8.4 rebounds and one block per game.
Bonke Maring is right on the cusp of giving the Huskies four double-digit scorers per game, recording 9.9 points to go with 7.0 rebounds and 2.1 assists. The Huskies haven't had four double-digit scorers in a single season since 2017-18.
Imariagbe has already eclipsed 200 rebounds for the season, while Maring needs four to hit that plateau. The last time the Huskies had two players with 200+ boards in the same season was when Reveal Chukwujekwu and Joshua Ibarra accomplished that feat in 2016-17.
The two teams have met 29 times, with the Cardinals holding an 18-11 lead in the all-time series. Lamar comes into the game on the heels of a solid road win at Texas A&M-Commerce on Monday night, winning handily 70-53.
Now 17-13 overall and 11-6 in the SLC, LU has already locked up a first round bye in the Southland Conference Tournament, but can finish as high as third. Terry Anderson leads a quartet of Cards in double-digits at 12.5 ppg. Chris Pryor, B.B. Knight and Adam Hamilton are all scoring right over 11 points per game, and Lamar also has three players sitting in the seven-plus points range in a well-balanced offensive attack.
HCU is 6-22 overall and 4-13 in SLC play as they enter the regular season finale. The Huskies need a victory to keep hope alive for a berth into next week's Southland Conference Tournament in Lake Charles, hosted by McNeese.
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