HOUSTON -- Houston Christian University got a career-high 41 points from
Bryson Dawkins and never trailed, racing to a convincing 72-56 victory over Stephen F. Austin in front of a packed and raucous Sharp Gymnasium on Monday night. The "Senior Night" win clinched a spot in the 2025 Southland Conference Tournament for the Huskies, handing HCU its first-ever season-sweep of the Lumberjacks in the final home contest of the 2024-25 campaign.
The Huskies got out of the gates quick, as a conventional three-point play and a long range hit from Dawkins sandwiched a three from
Julian Mackey to cap a 9-0 blitz and force an early SFA timeout just two minutes in. After the Jacks cut the lead to four, a triple from
Porter Bazil and a hammer from Dawkins pushed HCU back up nine.
SFA cut the lead to one, 16-15 on a jumper by Dominic Pangonis, but Dawkins answered with a three,
D'Aundre Samuels followed with a three from the corner and a pair of charity shots by Dawkins gave HCU an eight-point edge once again.
The Lumberjacks wouldn't go away however, and two layups by Matt Hayman sparked an 8-0 push that knotted things up at 25 with three minutes left in the half. Dawkins would hit the only bucket the remainder of the way with 45 seconds to go, giving HCU a 28-25 lead at the intermission.
Out of the break the Jacks hit first, to cut the deficit to one. From there, it was pretty much all Dawkins for the next 10 minutes. A personal heater from the junior from Dothan, Alabama produced 21 of the next 23 HCU points as part of a game-changing 23-8 spurt that put the game out of reach.
The run started running hammer down the lane on a drop off from
Porter Bazil. Three more layups followed before a stepback three got the crowd really worked up. An offensive rebound and putback off the glass came next before another stepback three pointer pushed the lead to eight, 43-35 and gave him 31 points with 13 minutes still remaining.
Dawkins would follow with another dunk on a backdoor before
D'Aundre Samuels knocked down two free throws. Another triple followed from Dawkins, giving the Huskies a comfortable 51-35 advantage midway through the second half. The lead would later grow to as many as 19 and Dawkins would hit 40 points on the evening on a beautiful drive to the paint after breaking through a triple-team, giving HCU a 62-47 cushion with three minutes to go.
Elijah Brooks put the capper on the evening at the 2:15 mark with a drive and slam that sent Sharp Gym into a frenzy.
The Huskies got it done on the other end as well, as the HCU defense limited the Jacks to just 36% shooting on the evening, including a paltry 11% from the arc. The second half run by Dawkins was mirrored by a stretch where the Jacks managed just 10 points in the first 10 minutes, ultimately deciding the contest. The Huskies conversely shot 49% on the night, including 39% from the arc, going 10-26 from long range.
Dawkins went 16-22 from the floor and 5-11 from the arc in posting the first 40-point game of his career. It is the most points in a game for HCU since the late Darius Lee matched the single-game mark of 52 points in a four-overtime victory over McNeese in the 2022 regular season finale.
The junior southpaw also posted the first double-double of the season for the Huskies, pulling down a career-best 10 boards which bested his previous high of nine, set against the Jacks on January 6. It is just the 16
th game in school history a player has netted over 40 points with Dawkins becoming just the 10
th individual player to accomplish the feat.
D'Aundre Samuels had 10 points and
Elijah Brooks had a solid all-around performance with eight points, eight boards, five assists and two steals.
Porter Bazil had eight points and a career-high seven rebounds, while
Peyton Rogers added seven boards and four assists.
Stephen F. Austin was led by Keon Thompson who had 16 points and six boards. Matt Hayman had 14 points and Chrishawn Christmas added 10 points and five rebounds for the Jacks, who fall to 14-15 overall and 7-11 in the Southland. The loss drops the Jacks one game out of the playoff picture, as UIW knocked off second place Lamar 73-61 to move into eighth place.
Houston Christian University snapped a four-game losing streak to improve to 12-17 overall and even the Southland ledger at 9-9. The victory clinches a spot in the 2025 Jersey Mike's Southland Conference Tournament in Lake Charles, Louisiana hosted by McNeese.
The win also kept the Huskies one game back of fifth place, as Northwestern State knocked off Southeastern and A&M-Corpus Christi fell to Nicholls to put those two in a tie at 10-8 in the SLC standings.
The Huskies now head to Natchitoches, Louisiana for a big game on Saturday afternoon against Northwestern State, the first contest of the final road trip. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:30 pm from Prather Coliseum. HCU will head to Commerce on Monday to take on East Texas A&M in the regular season finale.
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