HOUSTON --- Houston Christian University dropped a defensive affair with Lamar University, falling 66-58 to the second-place Cardinals on Saturday afternoon in Sharp Gymnasium. Wearing retro uniforms in the 11th annual throwback contest, the shorthanded "Hustlin' Huskies" hit a dry spell to open the second half in dropping the penultimate home game of the campaign.
Back-to-back three-pointers from
Julian Mackey and
Bryson Dawkins started things off and the Huskies defense was staunch to open, holding Lamar to just five points for the first six minutes of the game. A
Peyton Rogers stuff capped off the opening run, giving HCU a 10-5 lead early.
The Cardinals would respond, as Janko Bulajic grabbed five rebounds over the next four minutes, including a putback that gave Lamar a 14-13 edge at the 11:24 mark. That run would grow to 17-3 over a seven-minute span before an tip-in by
Porter Bazil.
Bryson Dawkins then followed with a layup and
Mason McBride converted a conventional three-point play split by the final media of the first frame, pulling HCU back to within two, 22-20 with 3:42 to go. The Huskies would go into the intermission down just one, 27-26.
A pair of free throws and a jumper from
Julian Mackey kept the Huskies within one, 31-30, two minutes into the second half. The visitors then went on a 12-3 burst over the next six minutes, finished off by a short jumper in the paint by Cody Pennebaker that gave Lamar its first double-digit lead, 43-33 with 13:09 to play.
The lead would grow as many as 18 on a close range hit by Adam Hamilton with just over eight to play, before a steal and dunk by
Julian Mackey ended the Cardinals rush with just 6:51 to play. The Huskies would put together a late charge over the final three minutes, led by nine points from Dawkins, but it wasn't enough.
It was a tale of two halves on this Throwback Saturday. After both teams shot 10-30 for 33% in the first frame, the Huskies went just 8-21 in the second half while Lamar blistered the nets to the tune of 69% shooting from the floor including an efficient 4-7 from the arc. The Cardinals ended the game shooting 50% from both the field and long range while claiming a 37-28 edge on the backboards.
Dawkins and Mackey each had 18 points to lead all scorers in the contest. Mackey had five boards and Dawkins four while
Porter Bazil added 10 points, four boards and three blocked shots.
Lamar, now 18-10 overall and 13-4 in the league, was paced by Ja'Sean Jackson, who went 7-11 from the floor and scored 17 points to go with five assists. Adam Hamilton added 11 points and four rebounds.
Houston Christian University is now 11-17 overall and has lost four in a row in falling to 8-9 in Southland action with just one home game and three regular season contests remaining. HCU falls to 7-4 in the throwback threads, which the team began wearing during the 2014-15 season when it celebrated 50 years of the program.
The Huskies are now one game behind Northwestern State for sixth place, and one game ahead of Stephen F. Austin and Incarnate Word, who are now tied for eighth after UIW nipped the Lumberjacks in San Antonio on Saturday. HCU faces SFA on Monday night in the home finale and then go to Northwestern next Saturday.
The Monday night tilt against SFA will be "Senior Night" as HCU concludes the home portion of the 2024-25 slate. The Huskies will honor its four out-going student-athletes:
Marques Gates,
Nathan Self,
Ivan Reynolds and
Julian Mackey with a short ceremony before opening tip, scheduled for 7 pm.
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