AMES, Iowa --- Houston Christian University put up a valiant effort in its first game following a 12-day Christmas break before falling to third-ranked Iowa State University 89-61 in Hilton Coliseum on Monday evening. The Huskies kept things tight and trailed by just 10 midway through the second stanza before the Cyclones pulled away down the stretch in the final non-conference game of the season for both teams.
HCU's
Kylin Green opened the night's scoring with a nifty move in the paint before Iowa State answered with a 10-0 run. ISU's leading scorer Milan Momcilovic and Joshua Jefferson each contributing four points.
A three-pointer by
Demari Williams cut the lead in half and a couple of moments later, he connected on a jumper to pull the Huskies to within one.
Kylin Green then scored on a breakout off a turnover and HCU had grabbed an 11-10 lead with 13:01 to go in the first half.
The Cyclones would end a nearly four-minute scoring drought to reclaim the lead at the 12:34 mark, sending the two teams into a back-and-forth over the next three minutes. A three-pointer by Joshua Jefferson pushed the hosts up by five, but
D'Aundre Samuels answered right back with a triple of his own and
Ryan Bartley connected from long range to make it a one-point game once again at 22-21 Cyclones. A driving layup by Jefferson pushed ISU back up three as the two teams hit the under-eight timeout with 6:57 to play.
Out of the timeout, the Cyclones went on a 9-2 run to grab their first double-digit lead of the night. A layup by Tamin Lipsey pushed the lead to seven and Momcilovic, the nation's leader in three-point percentage, nailed one from deep to push the margin to 33-23 and force an HCU timeout.
The scoring drought would reach 3:44 for HCU before
Kylin Green connected on a conventional three-point play at the 2:11 mark. Jamarion Batemon connected on a three to push the lead to 14 and the Cyclones would head to the intermission up 13, 41-28.
Killyan Toure scored six of Iowa State's first eight points to start the second half. On the other side
D'Aundre Samuels nailed a three-ball and a step-back jumper for the Huskies, as the first media of the second stanza hit with ISU up 49-35.
The Huskies would not go quietly and kept howling. Down 55-39 with 13:02 to go, HCU got a jumper in the paint by
Demari Williams and then seconds later, a steal and breakaway hammer from
Mambourou Mara cut the lead to 11, 55-44. A layup by Tamin Lipsey pushed the lead back to 13, but Bartley responded with a connection from long range to make the deficit just 10, 59-49 with 9:51 to go.
That momentum was quickly squelched however as Iowa State responded with 10-0 run over the next 1:30 of the game. A three-ball from Toure on the fastbreak got things started and the burst was capped by kick-out trifecta from Momcilovic that pushed the lead to 20 for the first time on the night, 69-49 with 8:05 to play and the No. 3 ranked Cyclones would cruise from there.
HCU shot 44% for the night from the floor and hit a season-best 82.4% from the free-throw line for the second time in its last three ballgames. The Huskies were outrebounded by the Cyclones 44-18 which led to a 24-4 disparity in second chance points for the hosts, who shot 50% on the evening from the floor but connected on just 6-19 from long range.
Demari Williams had a career-high 19 points to lead a group of four Huskies in double-digits and also chipped in a team-best five rebounds.
Ryan Bartley had 14 while
D'Aundre Samuels hit for a season-best 14 points as well.
Kylin Green chipped in 10 points.
Joshua Jefferson had 23 points, eight boards and five assists to lead the Cyclones (13-0). Blake Buchanan had a double-double with 16 points and 11 caroms. The Huskies held ISU leading scorer and the nation's leading three-point shooter Milan Momcilovic to 13 points and just 2-6 shooting from long distance while Killyan Toure added 11 points. Tamin Lipsey had eight points and a game-high eight assists for Iowa State.
Houston Christian University is now 5-8 on the season. HCU now returns to Southland Conference play for the remainder of the schedule, beginning this Saturday afternoon in the Alamo City against long-time rival University of the Incarnate Word. Tip-off from McDermott Convocation Center against the Cardinals is scheduled for 4 pm as the back-end of a doubleheader with the women.
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