🆚 McNeese State University
📆 Monday – December 13, 2025
⏰ 3:30 pm CT
🏟️ Sharp Gymnasium – Houston, Texas
📈 LIVE STATS
📺 ESPN+
🗒️ Game Program
Houston Christian University hits the home hardwood for the second time in three days when it hosts two-time defending Southland champ McNeese State University on Monday evening. Tip-off in Sharp Gym against the Cowboys is slated for 7 pm.
The Huskies are coming off a heartbreaking 74-71 loss to Southeastern Louisiana University in an overtime slugfest on Saturday afternoon. Playing their first home game in 23 days, the Huskies battled back from down eight with eight to play to force the extra period, but late heroics in the final seconds helped the Lions outlast the hosts.
The Lions raced out of the gates with a 12-4 run and led by five with just over four minutes remaining in the half.
Trent Johnson nailed consecutive three-pointers on dimes from
D'Aundre Samuels and an
Elijah Brooks layup with 31 seconds to go tied things up as the two teams headed to intermission at 36-apiece.
Southeastern came out strong to start the second session, scoring the first seven points. A three-pointer from Peter Menschemeier with 7:56 to go gave the Lions their largest lead of the night at eight, 60-52 but the Huskies weren't about to go quietly. Another strong defensive stretch saw HCU limit SLU to just three points over another five-minute span, and another three from
Trent Johnson tied things up at 63 with 2:55 to go in regulation. SLU was up three with 1:02 to go but the Huskies got possession late after a missed free throw by the Lions and again it was Johnson, burying a three-ball from the corner in front of the HCU bench to equalize and send the teams to an extra period.
HCU would take the first lead in overtime on a
Demarco Bethea layup but the Lions jumped back out in front 71-68 with 1:33 to go. Johnson would connect on his fifth triple of the night with 56 seconds to play to make it a 71-71 game, but Hemschemeier would come up with the final big shot of the night, a leaning jumper just outside the lane that gave the visitors the lead for good with 27 seconds remaining.
Johnson matched his career-highs of 17 points and five three-pointers while
Elijah Brooks added 17 points as well as four steals for the Huskies.
Ryan Bartley,
Demarco Bethea and
Kylin Green each had eight points, with Green adding game-highs of nine rebounds and 10 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.
Trent Johnson's big day Saturday pushed him back into double-figure scoring on the season, giving HCU a trio of players in double-digits.
Elijah Brooks, who missed the first four games of the season, leads the charge at 14.5 points per night while also chipping in 5.3 boards, 3.0 assists and 1.5 steals.
Kylin Green is just behind him at 12.2 points to go with 5.1 boards and a Southland Conference leading 6.2 assists per game. 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.
Johnson bumped up to 10.1 on the campaign, and his 5-9 outing from the arc pushes him in to the team lead at 42.6% while also hitting a robust 88.5% from the stripe.
Demarco Bethea averaged 9.4 points and 4.2 rebounds over the five-game road stretch 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 9.1 points, 4.5 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, 3.4 rebounds and 1.2 assists.
HCU is playing its second game in three days, the middle game of a three games in five days stretch. They will welcome McNeese, who hasn't played since Friday night, a 102-66 conference win over East Texas A&M in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
Bill Armstrong is in his first season at McNeese and has the Pokes at 88.9 points per game while allowing just 65.4 per, both of which lead the league. The Pokes lead the all-time series with HCU 25-10, but the two teams have split their last six meetings including a 75-59 McNeese win in Houston last year, its third straight win in the series.
Freshman Larry Johnson leads a trio of players in double-digits at 16.1 points while chipping in 4.4 rebounds. 6'4 junior guard Tyshawn Archie is averaging 14.3 points, 2.4 boards and 2.6 assists while hitting 39% from deep, while 2024-25 Southland Conference Player of the Year Javohn Garcia, a 6'3 guard, is averaging 12.8 points on a 46% clip from long range.
HCU is 7-4 all-time on December 15, last playing on this date in a 90-79 loss at Rice in 2020. The Huskies most recent win on this date came in 2017, a 100-65 victory over Barclay College that saw Braxton Bonds post the third triple-double in school history with 16 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists.
Houston Christian University will have no time to rest following the tilt with the Cowboys, hitting the road for Thibodaux, Louisiana and a Wednesday night matchup with Nicholls. The contest with the Colonels will be the third game in five days as well as the final game before a 12-day Christmas break.
#DawgsUp
