SCHEDULE CHANGE --- Monday's game has been moved up to a 6:00 p.m. tip-off in order to get attendees home ahead of inclement weather expected as part of a winter storm set to impact the greater Houston area.
HCU vs. TAMUCC
Houston Christian University concludes a four-game homestand on Monday evening in Sharp Gym against Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi with tip-off rescheduled for 6 pm.
The Huskies improved to 7-11 overall and 4-3 in the Southland on Saturday after storming back with a script-flipping rally in the second half against UTRGV. The Huskies held the visiting Vaqueros to just seven points over the final 10 minutes of the contest, erasing a 10-point deficit and moving into a four-way logjam for fourth place in the SLC standings.
The Vaqueros took a 10-point lead at the 9:51 mark, where things took a monumental turn.
Julian Mackey and
Trent Johnson knocked down consecutive three-pointers, and Mackey scored on a short jumper to pull the Huskies to within two. Two free throws by Mackey were then followed by an alley oop layup by Johnson on a feed from Dawkins to finish off a three-minute, 12-0 run that gave the Huskies the lead back, 52-50.
The lead would grow to eight, and Mackey would effectively end things with a strong move to the bucket and high kiss off the window that handed HCU to its largest lead of the night at nine, 64-55 with 2:07 to play. That bucket completed a 19-point turnaround as the Huskies raced past the Vaqueros 26-7 over the final 10 minutes.
Three players dented double-figures on the afternoon with
Bryson Dawkins leading the way with 15 to go with six boards.
Julian Mackey had 14 points and three steals while
Demari Williams established a new career-high with 14 points to go along with five boards, two assists and two steals.
HCU is led by first-year head coach
Craig Doty, who was hired as the ninth head coach in school history back in March as the program is now in its 59th season. Doty brings 12 years of head coaching experience to the HCU sidelines, having coached on the NJCAA, NAIA and NCAA Division II levels while capturing three national titles along the way.
Julian Mackey continues to pace the Huskies in scoring, sitting at 15.0 points. The senior transfer, who had a career-best 32 at ULM, has seven 20-point games on the campaign while eclipsing his career-high three times this season. He ranks fourth in the SLC in scoring and in free throw percentage, knocking down 79.5% from the charity stripe.
Bryson Dawkins is 15th in the SLC with his 12.3 points per game and also pulls down 4.6 rebounds, with those numbers rising to 15.1 points and nearly seven boards in league action.
Elijah Brooks continues to check boxes, averaging 9.1 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.2 steals per on the season.
Peyton Rogers leads the club in rebounding at 5.3 per night, bumping up to 7.1 per in conference play, while
D'Aundre Samuels' recent surge has him at 6.9 points and 2.3 rebounds overall and 8.0 points per in the SLC.
Monday night sees the Huskies and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi meet for the 34th time. The Islanders lead the series 23-10 and 17-6 in SLC play and have won three straight in the series. HCU's last win over TAMUCC came in Sharp Gym 90-78, nearly two years to the day on January 21, 2023.
Jim Shaw is now in his second season as the head coach and fourth overall on the island. He has TAMUCC sitting at 13-6 overall and in second place in league play with a 6-1 mark. After a conference-opening defeat, the Islanders have rattled off six victories in a row, most recently holding off Incarnate Word 69-63 in the Alamo City on Saturday afternoon. TAMUCC not only leads the Southland In scoring at 82.2 points per game, but ranks fourth in defense at 68.7 points allowed, a +13.5 margin, which is tops in the league.
TAMUCC is paced by 6'8 first-team All-Southland forward Garry Clark, who averages 14.5 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. Isaac Williams, a 6'2 freshman guard, scores 12.8 points an outing while also chipping in 3.4 boards and team-highs of 4.2 assists and 1.4 steals. Owen Dease, a 6'8 junior, averages 9.9 points and 4.5 rebounds.
The Huskies are 8-6 all-time in games played on January 20, which this year happens to be both Martin Luther King, Jr. Day as well as Inauguration Day. HCU has never played a game when both of those fell on the same date. The last time HCU played on January 20 was last year in a 78-77 buzzer-beating win over Lamar in Sharp Gymnasium.
On MLK Day, the Huskies hold a 10-5 mark with the most recent outing coming last season in a 69-64 loss at Northwestern State. HCU is 1-2 all-time on Inauguration Day, falling at home to Baptist College (now Charleston Southern) 80-76 in 1977, winning at Huston-Tillotson 99-92 in 2001, and most recently dropping a 92-83 decision at home to Nicholls in 2021.
The game with the Islanders completes a two-week, four-game stay at home for the Huskies. Following the contest, HCU will embark on a four-game road swing with a first stop in the Big Easy for a game at University of New Orleans on January 25. The Huskies will not return home until Saturday, February 8 when they host the return matchup with the Privateers in Sharp Gymnasium.
#DawgsUp
