🆚 Southeastern Louisiana University
📆 Saturday – December 13, 2025
⏰ 3:30 pm CT
🏟️ Sharp Gymnasium – Houston, Texas
📈 LIVE STATS
📺 ESPN+
🗒 Game Program
Houston Christian University returns to the home hardwood for the first time in 23 days on Saturday afternoon as it hosts Southeastern Louisiana University. It is the first of two home Southland Conference games in three days for the Huskies, with tip-off in Sharp Gymnasium slated for 3:30 pm.
HCU has been off all week for final exams after finishing off the season-long five-game road stretch last Saturday. The Huskies ended the trevails away from home by posting a convincing 85-76 win in the Big Easy over University of New Orleans to open up conference action.
The Huskies blew open a tie game early in the second half and cruised past the Privateers at Lakefront Arena. A methodical run over a seven-minute span pushed HCU in front by double-figures as the Huskies exploded for a season-high 49 points in the second frame and never looked back.
Tied at 44 early in the second half, the Huskies made their move, combining defense with offense. HCU limited the Privateers to just one point over a three-plus minute span with
Nehikhare Igiehon scoring four points during that 10-1 spurt. A couple of possessions later the Huskies earned three offensive rebounds on the same trip before
Elijah Brooks cashed in the extra opportunities with a soft jumper in the lane and HCU led by a dozen as the run reached 16-4.
UNO would cut the deficit to five, but
Brooks then converted on a massive jackhammer to push the lead back to seven, and
Demarco Bethea would make three of four free throws over the next minute as the Huskies reclaimed their double-digit margin heading into the final media. HCU would extend the lead to 14 on a three-ball by
Brooks with 1:04 to go and to as many as 17 before the Privateers hit three three-pointers in the final minute to cut the lead under double-digits, but it was too little too late.
A quintet of Huskies made their way into double-figure scoring.
Brooks led the way with 18 points to go with seven boards and five assists, while
Ryan Bartley completed his strong road stretch with a season-high 16 points, 14 coming in the second half.
Bethea had 12 points and a game and career-high nine caroms, while
Demari Williams added season-high coming on a career-best 7-8 from the charity stripe.
Kylin Green also had 11 points and added five boards while pacing all players with his nine assists.
Craig Doty, the ninth head coach in program history, is now in his second season at the helm after guiding HCU to a 12-20 overall mark and 9-11 ledger in Southland Conference action in 2024-25. It was announced earlier in the week that
Doty has signed a contract extension through the 2029-30 season.
The Huskies doubled their success rate from the previous season, going from six total wins to 12 and from four victories to nine in conference play, finishing seventh in the league after being picked to finish last. HCU advanced to the Southland Tournament and saw
Bryson Dawkins named All-Conference as just the second player in program history to pick up SLC First Team honors.
The Huskies have a fairly balanced offensive effort, with just two players in double-digit scoring.
Elijah Brooks, who missed the first four games of the season, leads the charge at 14 points per night while also chipping in 5.4 boards, 3.2 assists and 1.2 steals.
Kylin Green is just behind him at 12.7 points while also grabbing 4.7 boards. He leads the team and the Southland Conference at 5.8 assists per game, and is also pacing the team beyond the arc at 40.7% on the season thus far. He had a career-high 24 points in the loss to Bellarmine and has also registered a career-best 13 assists in the victory over ULM on November 13, the most in a game for HCU since Mike Moss had 13 against Chicago State in 2011.
Trent Johnson sits just outside of the 10-point range at 9.3 ppg. He is third on the club from distance at 39.5% while sitting fourth in the SLC in free-throw percentage at a robust 88.5% from the stripe.
Solid road trips were seen by
Demarco Bethea and
Ryan Bartley.
Bethea averaged 9.4 points and 4.2 rebounds over the five-games which included a team-best 57.1% effort from the floor. He posted a career-best 14 points on 7-7 from the floor in the win over Citadel and had a career-high nine boards in the trip finale at New Orleans. He now sits at 9.2 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.1 assists on the season.
After starting the season slow,
Ryan Bartley posted four double-digit scoring efforts in the five-game road stretch, including an HCU-high 16 in the conference opener at UNO. He averaged 11.2 points and 3.4 rebounds while shooting 44% from distance, knocking down 12-27 over the quintet of games. He is now averaging 8.4 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.2 assists.
The Huskies have been off all week for finals following the win at New Orleans. Saturday against Southeastern Louisiana will mark HCU's first action on the Sharp Gym hardwood since November 20, an 85-69 win over College of Biblical Studies
.
David Keifer is in his seventh year in charge of the Lions after spending five years as an assistant. SLU is currently 3-6 on the season overall and 0-1 in the Southland following this past Sunday's 76-68 home defeat to Northwestern State University.
The Lions have a balanced offense that features just one player in double-figures but two on the verge and two more sitting at eight-plus. Jeremy Elyzee, a 6'7 forward who was the 2024-25 Southland Freshman of the Year, leads the way at 11.7 points while collecting four rebounds and 2.3 assists while shooting 48% from the field.
Isaiah Gaines, a 6'8 fifth-year transfer from Florida Atlantic, and Jalen Forrest, a 6'4 junior transfer guard from Presbyterian, both average 9.7 points per game. Gaines leads the team in rebounding at 5.9 per including 2.2 on the offensive backboards. 6'1 junior guard Seth Jones averages eight points and 1.9 steals.
HCU is 8-5 all-time on December 13 and have won four of the last six on this date. The last time the Huskies played on the 13
th was a 99-84 victory over Arlington Baptist in 2014.
Houston Christian University will make a quick turnaround following the game with SLU, as the Huskies will host two-time defending Southland Conference champ McNeese State University on Monday evening in Sharp Gym. Tip-off for the tilt with the Cowboys is at 7 pm.
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