STATESBORO, Georgia -- Houston Christian University dropped a Saturday matinee to Georgia Southern University, falling 80-62 at the Hill Convocation Center. The two teams battled back-and-forth for the better part of 30 minutes before the Eagles pulled away down the stretch.
The two teams got into a good flow early, as the game progressed six minutes before hitting the first media. A dunk by
Elijah Brooks and a putback follow by
Demarco Bethea gave the Huskies an early 6-5 lead, but the Eagles came right back with the same, as a tip-in layup by Shainen Carter and a breakaway dunk by Jefferson Koulibaly gave the hosts a 9-6 advantage with 14:20 on the clock.
Nehikhare Igiehon scored on a power move in the paint to snap a four-minute field goal drought for the Huskies at the 12:01 mark. Out of the media timeout a
Mambourou Mara offensive board gave the Huskies a second opportunity and Brooks cashed in with a score in the paint to tie things up at 12 nearing the midway point of the first frame. Brooks would then get an open lane to the bucket on the break, and his hammer put the Huskies ahead 14-12 with 9:43 to go.
GSU's Spudd Webb answered back, scoring seven straight points to push the Eagles back in front, 19-14. After a
Kylin Green bucket, the run continued and a Tsvet Sotirov three-ball forced an HCU timeout with 5:28 to play as the Eagles took their largest lead of the half, 24-16.
The Huskies responded. A dunk by
Trent Johnson off a nice dime by
Demarco Bethea was followed up by free throws by Brooks and Green and a layup by Green, pulling HCU back to within four. After an Applewhite layup for GSU,
D'Aundre Samuels hit HCU's first three of the half, cutting the deficit to three, 28-25 with under two to play. An Applewhite three-point play extended the lead back out to seven, 34-27 which would be how the teams would hit the halftime break.
Back-to-back three-pointers by
Trent Johnson and
Kylin Green pulled HCU to within two barely a minute into the second frame, but Georgia Southern answered back with a couple of mid-range jumpers.
Ryan Bartley nailed another three for the Huskies and that was followed by another downhill run by Brooks as the pace continued to pick up.
Demarco Bethea scored on a nice give from Green, and a couple of possessions later he scored on a nice spin move off the left block just before the first media. His free throw on the other side of the television break would pull HCU to within one. Bartley would later hit another three but GSU's Tyren Moore knocked down two straight from long range, and Kyari Dunn added one of his own from the corner, giving GSU a 56-48 lead at the under 12 media.
A second chance layup by Webb gave Georgia Southern its first double-digit lead, 58-48, but
D'Aundre Samuels bucket in the paint would cut the deficit to eight. The Eagles began then began to slowly pull away, using an 10-2 burst to take a 66-50 lead before another Bartley three snapped a three-minute drought for the Huskies at the 7:29 mark.
A spinning layup by Brooks was followed by a dunk by Bartley diving down the middle of the lane, cutting the lead to 13, but that would be as close as the Huskies would get the rest of the way.
The Huskies shot just 41% on the afternoon, while Georgia Southern made good use of home court, hitting 48% from the field and 40% from the arc, knocking down 10-25 from long range. The Eagles forced 15 turnovers which led to an 18-1 edge on points off turnovers.
Three players hit double-digits for HCU, led by
Elijah Brooks with 12.
Ryan Bartley posted his third consecutive double-figure outing with 11, and
Demarco Bethea chipped in 11 as well. Bartley led the Huskies with six boards, while
Kylin Green chipped in eight points, four caroms and four helpers.
Georgia Southern put five in double-digits to snap a four-game losing streak and improve to 4-5 on the season. Spudd Webb led all scorers with a game-high 19 to go with three boards and three dimes. Jefferson Koulibaly had 15 while Alden Applewhite notched a double-double with 13 points and a game-best 10 rebounds. Tyren Moore had 11 and six caroms while Tsvet Sotirov went for 10 off the pine.
HCU falls to 4-3 on the season with the defeat that ends the opening month of the season. The loss comes at the midway point of the season-long five-game road stretch, as the Huskies will return to the Lone Star state for the penultimate game of the stretch when they head to Denton on Tuesday to take on University of North Texas.
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