HCU vs. NEW ORLEANS
HCU vs. SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA
- Monday – February 10, 2025 (7 pm)
- Houston, Texas (Sharp Gymnasium)
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- 🗒️ GAME NOTES (Updated Sunday)
- 🗒️ GAME PROGRAM (Updated Sunday)
Houston Christian University hits the hardwood in Sharp Gymnasium for the first time in over two weeks to host a pair of return games as the final four weeks of the regular season campaign begins. The Huskies will host University of New Orleans on Saturday and Southeastern Louisiana University on Monday night, for the second time each after playing both on the last road swing.
HCU is now 10-13 overall after splitting its last four. The Huskies captured impressive victories in the first two games of the road trip, winninag at New Orleans 86-76 and again at Southeastern 70-62 before a rugged travel stretch for the second half of the swing. A tough 74-64 loss in San Antonio last Saturday to Incarnate Word was followed up by a long trek back to Louisiana for a Monday night tilt at Nicholls, where the Huskies fell 75-67.
The back-to-back losses dropped HCU to 7-5 in the ever-changing landscape that has become the Southland standings. While McNeese leads the league at 11-1, a revolving door sees six teams still within one game of each other in second and third place. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Nicholls, Southeastern and Lamar all tied at 8-4, one game ahead of HCU and Northwestern State at 7-5 each. UTRGV is 5-7 and holding onto the final playoff spot, one game ahead of UIW and two ahead of Stephen F. Austin. The top eight teams qualify for the postseason tournament in Lake Charles starting March 9.
In their most recent outing, the Huskies built a double-digit lead at the break in Thibodaux, only to see the hosts turn the tables midway through the second half. HCU led by 10, 50-40 after a
D'Aundre Samuels three-pointer with 12:42 remaining. It was there that Nicholls began a massive surge.
Michael Gray Jr. came off the bench and scored nine straight points to pull the Colonels to within one, and a pair of Rob Brown free throws gave the hosts the lead for good. Gray would connect again from deep to help NSU extend its lead to its largest at nine, and the Huskies would get no closer than six the rest of the night.
Bryson Dawkins had his fifth 20-point night of the season with 21 to lead the Huskies, 13 coming in the first half.
Julian Mackey had 11 points and
Elijah Brooks chipped in 10, all in the first half.
D'Aundre Samuels had nine points and a team-high six boards while
Porter Bazil recorded eight points.
HCU is led by first-year head coach
Craig Doty, who was hired as the ninth head coach in school history last March as the program is now in its 59th season. 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 15.0 points with eight 20-point efforts on the campaign. The senior transfer from the Peach State has eclipsed his career-high three times this year, and currently ranks fourth in the SLC in scoring and second from the free throw line at 79.0 % clip for the season.
Bryson Dawkins is now eighth in the league in scoring at 13.5 points and he ranks second on the club in rebounding, hauling in 4.8 per game. He is now first on the club in conference scoring at 16.3 points with Mackey close behind at 15.5 points. The pair still rank as the third-highest scoring duo in the Southland.
Elijah Brooks continues to check boxes with 9.4 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.2 steals per game on the season. Samuels is now up to seven points per game and 2.5 boards, while
Trent Johnson also fills in the box score with six points, four boards, 1.5 assists and a team-high 1.3 steals per game.
HCU and New Orleans are meeting for the second time this season, and second time in three Saturdays. The Huskies broke away from a tight game with seven minutes to play as a three-ball from
Trent Johnson gave HCU the lead for good and preceded an 11-point personal run by
Bryson Dawkins to push the margin into double-digits. Dawkins would finish the game with a career-high 28 points.
The Privateers come in at 4-19 overall on the season and 2-10 in league play following Monday night's heartbreaking home defeat, falling 88-85 in overtime to Stephen F. Austin. After tying the game at 85 with 2.6 seconds left, the Privateers fell victim to a half-court bank shot three-pointer from SFA's Matt Hayman for the win.
UNO leads the all-time series between the two at 17-7 overall but just 8-6 in conference play. Stacy Hollowell is in his first season on the sidelines at UNO and James White continues to pace the Privateers, as the 6'5 senior transfer from UAB is averaging 19 points and seven boards per contest. He posted 29 points and nine boards in the previous loss to HCU.
The Huskies have played 16 times on February 8 over the years, splitting down the middle at 8-8. HCU last played on this date in 2020, falling to Northwestern State 93-79 in Sharp Gym. The last victory came in 2007, when the Huskies bested Bacone College 86-71 in Muskogee, Oklahoma
The Huskies and Lions hook up also for the second time in three Mondays when they tip-off to start next week. That game saw HCU take the lead nine minutes into the game and never trail thereafter, getting a combined 54 points from
Bryson Dawkins and
Julian Mackey while holding on down the stretch for a 70-62 victory that snapped SLU's six-game winning streak.
Dawkins and Mackey tied for game-high honors with 27 points apiece. Dawkins led the way in the first frame, hitting five three's for 15 points, while Mackey paced the second session by connecting on two three's with a 9-12 showing from the charity stripe for 17 points.
One game after setting his career high in scoring, Dawkins came one point shy. He finished 7-13 from the floor with a new personal best from the arc, going 6-9 from deep while also grabbing seven boards and blocking two shots. Mackey posted his eighth 20-point effort of the season going 7-12 from the field and 4-8 from long range.
It was the second time this season that the Huskies have had a pair combine for 50 or more points, and the second time Mackey has been involved. Mackey had 28 points to go along with a career-high 29 from
Elijah Brooks as the two combined for 57 in a loss to Northern Arizona on November 27.
HCU and Southeastern have now met 21 times with the Lions leads in the overall series trimmed to 13-8 and in conference play to 12-5 after the win by the Huskies in Hammond.
The Lions, led by sixth-year head coach David Kiefer. SLU rebounded from the loss to HCU to capture wins over New Orleans and Lamar at home last week, and head into the weekend having won eight of their last nine to improve to 14-9 overall and 8-4 in the league. SLU will face Incarnate Word on Saturday in San Antonio, having bested the Cardinals 86-63 in Hammond two weeks ago.
Sam Hines Jr., a 6'6 senior guard who transferred from South Florida, leads the Lions in scoring (16.6 ppg) and rebounding (6.3 rpg) and is second in assists (2.1 apg). Jakevion Buckley, a 6'1 senior guard, averages 13.1 points and 4.3 boards as well as team-highs of 4.1 assists and 1.9 steals after transferring to SLU following two seasons at conference foe Lamar. 6'10 junior post Brody Rowbury chips in 7.6 points and 5.7 boards.
HCU will be playing for the 20th time on February 10. The Huskies hold an 11-8 record on this date, with the most recent outing being an 86-83 victory one year ago over Incarnate Word.
Another quick two-game trip follows this short homestand, as the Huskies head down the coast next week for a pair of return games at UTRGV and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
HCU will return to Sharp for its final two home games of the season on February 22 and 24. The Saturday afternoon tilt against Lamar will be the annual "Hustlin' Husky" throwback game followed by "Senior Night" against SFA the following Monday evening.
#DawgsUp
