CHARLESTON, South Carolina --- Houston Christian University bounced back from a tough loss on Tuesday, racing out in front early before weathering a late surge to post a 72-65 Thanksgiving Eve victory over The Citadel 72-65 at McAlister Field House on Wednesday night. The victory gave the Huskies their first road win of the season and a split of the back-to-back in the Citadel's MTE to kick off the season-long five-game road stretch.
 
Keynan Davis three-pointer put The Citadel up 3-2 just over a minute into the contest, but that lead was quickly erased. Demarco Bethea had four points and a conventional three-point play by Kylin Green handed the Huskies a 14-5 lead at the first media break.
 
That run continued as Bethea scored four more in the paint, and the strong opening push was finished off by a monstrous one-hand hammer on the break by Mambourou Mara that gave the Huskies a 19-5 edge with 11:39 to play.
 
 
Davis would hit a free throw and bucket to stop the opening onslaught, but Nehikhare Igiehon scored in the paint and then converted two free throws to push the lead back to 13, 23-10 at the midway point of the first half.
 
The Bulldogs slowly fought back, getting back-to-back three pointers from Braxton Williams to slice the deficit to seven. Kylin Green would put a stop to the quick burst by the hosts with an offensive putback as the Huskies took a 25-16 lead at the under-eight.
 
Williams canned another three-pointer to draw the Bulldogs to within six, 25-19 with just over six minutes left. A fourth three-pointer of the first half by Williams was followed by two free throws from Christian Moore as The Citadel inched closer. A hit from long range by Ryan Bartley would end a nearly five-minute scoring drought for the Huskies but Logan Applegate answered with one of his own from deep just before the halftime buzzer to finish off a strong 13-5 closing spurt by the hosts as the two teams went to the intermission with the HCU lead cut to three, 35-32.
 
HCU opened the second half with a three by Green, another bucket by Bethea and a triple by Trent Johnson to up the lead to seven. Consecutive three-pointers from Mara and Elijah Brooks put HCU back up double-digits and forced a Citadel timeout at the 13:09 mark with the Huskies up 49-38.
 
 
Citadel would not go away easily. After a Bartley corner three pushed HCU's lead to nine, the Bulldogs got back-to-back downhill layups by Eze Wali and then an inside score from Moore to pull to within three once again, 56-53 with 7:50 to go. Moore then canned two three-pointers and Williams made one of two from the charity stripe, and the game was back to its starting point, tied at 60 with 5:42 left on the clock.
 
Elijah Brooks then got into the paint for two scores, putting HCU up four with 3:14 to go. Kylin Green then knocked down a three with the shot clock running down and the Huskies were back up seven. Mambourou Mara rebounded a missed a free-throw and earned the hoop and harm, with the conventional three-point play pushing HCU back up double-digits, 70-60 with 1:11 to go. Much like they opened the contest, the Huskies ended with a strong push, limiting the Bulldogs to just five points over the final 5:42 of the game, a 12-5 game-deciding stretch.
 
 
HCU shot well from the floor for the second straight night at McAlister Fieldhouse, knocking down 54% from the field, while holding The Citadel to just 41% on their own floor. The Bulldogs efforts were bolstered by 38% shooting from the three-point line, as they hit on 11-29 from deep. There were just 19 total turnovers in the game, and just two lead changes, as HCU led for the majority.
 
After putting four players in double-digits the past two games, the Huskies had five double-figure scorers for the first time this season. Demarco Bethea went 7-7 from the floor for his team and career-high 14 points, while Kylin Green finished with 13 points and five assists. Mambourou Mara went for 12 points and five boards, while Elijah Brooks added 11 points, all in the second half, to go with his team best eight caroms. Ryan Bartley had his second straight double-digit night, scoring 10 points.
 
Braxton Williams led all scorers with 20 for Citadel, hitting 5-12 from long range. Christian Moore added 17 on 3-5 from deep as the only two in double-figures for the Bulldogs (2-5).
 
HCU improves to 4-2 on the season. The Huskies will hit the midway point of the five-game road stretch on Saturday when it steps across the state line into the Peach State for a Saturday matinee against Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, Georgia to close out the month of November.
 
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