HCU at NORTHWESTERN STATE
HCU at EAST TEXAS A&M
- Monday – March 3, 2025 (6:30 pm)
- Commerce, Texas (The Fieldhouse)
- 📈 LIVE STATS
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- 🗒️ GAME NOTES (Updated Sunday)
Houston Christian University sets out on the final road swing of the year, heading to Natchitotches on Saturday for a rematch with Northwestern State University in the penultimate game of the season. The Huskies fell to the Demons 64-57 in the second conference game of the year on December 7 and currently sit one game behind NSU and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the Southland Conference standings. HCU will close the regular season with a Monday night finale at East Texas A&M University.
Now 12-17 on the season, the Huskies moved to 9-9 in conference play with a convincing 72-56 victory over Stephen F. Austin in front of a packed and raucous Sharp Gym crowd in the home finale on Monday night. HCU got a career-high 41 points from
Bryson Dawkins in a "Senior Night" game that they never trailed while securing their place in the 2025 Southland Conference Tournament. The Huskies never trailed in either game this season against SFA while earning a first-ever season sweep of the Lumberjacks.
HCU got out of the gates quick with a 9-0 run that forced SFA into a timeout. The Jacks would knot the score at 25 with three minutes left in the first half, but the Huskies held them scoreless the rest of the way to take a 28-25 lead at the break. The visitors would then score the first bucket of the second half before Dawkins went on a personal heater. The junior from Dothan, Alabama scored 21 of the next 23 points for HCU as part of a 23-8 run that changed the complexion of the game and sent the standing-room only crowd into a frenzy with each bucket, as the Huskies led by double-figures the rest of the way.
Dawkins posted career-highs in shooting, going 16-22 from the floor and 5-11 from the arc while also pulling down a career-high 10 boards for the Huskies first double-double of the season. The 41-point outburst was the second-highest single game scoring mark in the Southland Conference this season.
D'Aundre Samuels added 10 points while
Elijah Brooks added eight points, eight boards, five assists and two steals.
Porter Bazil chipped in eight points and hauled in a personal-high seven caroms.
HCU is led by first-year head coach
Craig Doty, who was hired as the ninth head coach in school history nearly one year ago. Doty brings 12 years of head coaching experience to the HCU sidelines, having coached on the NJCAA, NAIA and NCAA Division II levels while capturing three national titles along the way.
Julian Mackey continues to pace the Huskies in scoring, sitting at 15.5 points on the campaign. The senior transfer from the Peach State has 10 games with 20 points or more and has eclipsed his career-high three times this year. He currently ranks third in the SLC in scoring and first from the free throw line at an 80.5% clip for the season. Mackey averages 16.1 a game in SLC play.
Bryson Dawkins is now fourth in the league in scoring, having upped his averaged to an even 15 points per night. He is second on the club in rebounding, hauling in 4.9 per game. Dawkins is averaging 20.6 ppg over his last eight, and now leads the Huskies in scoring in conference play at 17.7 ppg. He and Mackey still rank as the third-highest scoring duo in the Southland behind Sam Hines, Jr. and Jakevion Buckley of Southeastern and Davion Bailey and Jalin Anderson of UIW.
The Huskies stand in seventh place in the conference ledger, one game behind Northwestern State and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, who both sit in fifth position with a 10-8 mark in league play. HCU is one game ahead of UIW, which swept a pair of games last week over SFA and second-place Lamar to jettison back into the eighth and final tournament slot heading into the final two games of the season. The eighth spot is the only spot still up for grabs going into the weekend, with UIW, SFA and UTRGV still fighting to the finish to fill out the postseason field.
The Demons pulled away late to eek out a seven-point victory in a back-and-forth defensive slugfest on December 7 in Sharp Gym. The win gave Northwestern a 24-19 lead in the all-time series which includes wins in nine of the last 12 games. The Huskies are 4-4 in their last eight trips to Natchitoches.
NSU built a seven-point lead at the break, but the Huskies would tie things up at 44 and 55 in the second half before the Demons got back-to-back three-point plays in a final 10-3 run that sealed the win. Addison Patterson had 25 points and five boards and Willie Williams had a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds to lead NSU, while
Bryson Dawkins was the lone HCU player in double-digits with 13.
Rick Cabrera is in his second season on the sidelines of Prather Coliseum and has the Demons sitting one game ahead of HCU in the SLC standings at 10-8 in the league and 13-15 overall. The 6'7 senior forward Patterson is having a splendid all-around campaign at 13.1 points, 5.6 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.4 steals. 6'0 guard Micah Thomas averages a dozen points, while 6'6 Williams leads the team at 7.3 caroms per evening.
East Texas A&M heads into the weekend closing out a tough season overall with a 4-25 overall record and a 2-16mark in conference play. The Lions face UIW on Saturday before hosting HCU in The Fieldhouse on Monday evening. HCU claimed an 83-79 victory on December 5 to take a 6-5 lead in the all-time series with ETAMU, which changed its name from Texas A&M-Commerce prior to the season, harkening to its long heritage as East Texas State.
HCU led 45-31 at the break, then held off a valiant second-half rally by ETAMU, highlighted by
Julian Mackey knocking down 7-8 from the charity stripe in the final minute, including two with four seconds remaining to close things out.
Bryson Dawkins had 22 points and Mackey 20, with
Elijah Brooks contributing 12 for the Huskies, who shot 52% from the floor and long range in the game. Scooter Williams Jr. led the Lions with 16, one of four players in double-digits for the visitors that night.
Jaret Von Rosenburg is in his eighth season at the helm in Commerce. Williams leads the Lions in scoring heading into the final weekend, averaging 11.4 points to go with three boards and 2.3 assists. Khaliq Abdul-Mateen averages 8.1 points and 2.6 rebounds.
HCU has played 16 times on the first day of the third month, with an 11-5 all-time mark. The last time the Huskies played on March 1 was in 2023, an 80-64 loss to Southeastern, with the last victory coming in 2017, a 94-80 victory over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. March 3 has seen HCU play 15 times, posting an 8-6 overall mark. The last time HCU played on the 3
rd of the 3
rd month as in 2021, a 72-67 victory over UIW.
After the regular season finale on Monday night, the Huskies will be off until the Jersey Mike's Southland Conference Tournament hosted by McNeese in Lake Charles, Louisiana. HCU will play a first-round game on Sunday at either 5 pm or 7:30 pm, based on final seeding following these final two games.
#DawgsUp
