NACOGDOCHES, Texas --- Houston Christian University opened up the game with a 7-0 run and never looked back, leading wire-to-wire to claim a convincing 83-73 victory over Stephen F. Austin State University at the William R. Johnson Coliseum on Monday night. The Huskies pushed their lead to double-figures by late in the first half and cruised through the second, leading by as many as 18 before settling on the 10-point win. The victory snapped a three-game losing streak and evened HCU's conference mark at two apiece heading into a two-week, four-game homestand.

Four offensive rebounds on the first possession of the night led to a side-step three-ball from Trent Johnson. Porter Bazil then scored on a drive followed by a breakaway from Bryson Dawkins, and the Huskies found themselves up a touchdown, forcing an early SFA timeout. Bazil would add two more free throws just after the first media, pushing the lead to 12-3.
   
SFA cut the lead in half after some free throws, but back-to-back scores from Elijah Brooks pushed HCU's lead to a dozen, 18-6 with 12 minutes to play. The Jacks would pull back to within seven, but a soft touch on a step-back mid-range jumper from D'Aundre Samuels gave the Huskies a 20-11 lead nearing the 10-minute mark.
 
A couple of minutes later and leading by just three, Samuels and Julian Mackey knocked down consecutive long range shots, giving the visitors a nine-point lead, 26-17. A three-point play by Dominic Pangonis cut the lead back to six just after the under-eight media, but the Huskies answered quickly getting a dunk from Trent Johnson and a three-ball in the corner from Mackey to extend the lead back to double-digits, 32-21 with 5:20 left in the half.
 
A Mackey drive was followed by a ball poked away by Peyton Rogers that led to a breakaway dunk by Bryson Dawkins. Pierce Bazil then knocked down a three-ball with 1:15 left in the half to give HCU a 14-point lead that they would take to the intermission, 40-26.
   
The Jacks came out strong to start the second half, and a Keon Thompson three-pointer finished off a 9-4 spurt that pulled the hosts to within nine, 44-35 at the 16:20 mark. Dominic Pangonis hit two free throws right out of the media cutting into the lead again.
 
A three-ball from Julian Mackey stopped the spurt to give HCU it's double-figure lead back, 47-37. Seconds later, Mackey would convert a conventional three-point play on a strong drive, pushing the margin to 11, 50-39 where it would stay after a coast-to-coast finish by Elijah Brooks just before the 12-minute media timeout.
   
Out of the media, Pierce Bazil hit another three and after a quick SFA timeout, Bryson Dawkins connected from deep as well. Brooks then scored again on a driving layup to push the lead to 17, 60-43 with a little under 10 minutes remaining in the ballgame. D'Aundre Samuels and Trent Johnson hit two free-throws apiece before a massive highlight reel hammer from Dawkins pushed HCU's lead it's largest at 18 with 7:42 to play.
   
A strong finish at the rim just before the media eventually turned into a three-point play by SFA's Keon Thompson, cutting the HCU lead to 12 with 3:51 to play. Peyton Rogers would counter with a three-ball, and then answered two SFA charity shots with two of his own to get the lead back up to 15 closing in on the three-minute mark.
 
SFA kept coming but the Huskies held their ground. Elijah Brooks hit five free throws in the final minute to help HCU close out the convincing end-to-end run to victory.
 
The Huskies shot 47% from the floor, including 44% from the three-point. One game after going to the line just nine times, the Huskies got to the line 23 times, knocking down 19 for 83% on the night. HCU used a huge disparity on the backboards, collecting 13 on the offensive end en route to a 41-22 advantage overall.
 
Julian Mackey posted his seventh 20-point night of the season, recording a game-high 22 on 7-13 shooting from the floor and 4-8 from long range. Elijah Brooks had 13 points, seven boards, and career-highs of six assists and four steals.
 
Dawkins had 12 points, and one game after setting a new career-high in rebounds at Lamar, did one better with nine on the night to go with a career-best four assists. Peyton Rogers had his best night as a Husky, scoring eight points to go with a game-high and season-best 11 caroms while also matching his career-high in blocked shots with three. Trent Johnson matched his career-high with nine points and chipped in six rebounds.
 
SFA shot 49% from the floor but his just 4-17 from the arc and 68% from the free-throw line. Keon Thompson had 19 points and Dominic Pangonis added 17 for the Lumberjacks, who drop to 7-8 overall and 0-4 in Southland play.
 
The Huskies improve to 5-10 overall and 2-2 in Southland play, getting their first-ever win in Nacogdoches. HCU makes its return to Sharp Gym on Saturday afternoon, playing at home for the first time in nearly a month as it opens a four-game homestand against rival University of the Incarnate Word. The game is the back-end of a conference doubleheader with the women, who face off against UIW at 1 pm, followed immediately by the men's game.
 
 
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