HCU at EAST TEXAS A&M
Houston Christian University takes on East Texas A&M University in Commerce on Monday night in the regular season finale for both schools. Tip-off from The Fieldhouse is set for 6:30 pm with the Huskies still in a battle for seeding in next week's Southland Conference tournament.
The Huskies sit at 12-18 overall on the season and 9-10 in conference action, and are tied with rival Incarnate Word for the seventh spot in the standings heading into the final night of conference action. HCU was halted by a late rally in Natchitoches on Saturday afternoon, dropping a 61-56 defensive battle to Northwestern State at Prather Coliseum. The Demons used a 17-4 run over the final five-and-a-half minutes to rally for the win, not taking the lead until a Jon Sanders three-pointer with 1:30 remaining.
The two clubs really clamped down for the first 14 minutes, with HCU holding an 18-14 lead after a banked-home three-pointer by
Trent Johnson. HCU would hold the Demons to just two shots and one point in the final three minutes of the half to take a 30-23 lead to the break.
In the second half, the two #9's would begin to heat up, as
Bryson Dawkins and NSU's Addison Patterson went back-and-forth. Dawkins scored two buckets and a beautiful blowby dunk by
Elijah Brooks pushed HCU's lead to 41-31 with 11:24 to go. Jerald Colonel's dunk broke a six-minute scoreless stretch for the hosts. HCU would hold a 54-44 lead with 4:35 to play on a run-out by Dawkins before the Demons made their final game-deciding push.
A three-ball from Micah Thomas and six point from Patterson preceded the three from Sanders to give NSU the lead. Sanders would calmly hit two free throws with 5.1 seconds remaining to seal things. Dawkins led HCU with 18 points while
D'Aundre Samuels added 11. Patterson had 26 and Colonel had a game-high 14 boards for the Demons.
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.
Bryson Dawkins is now third in the league in scoring, having upped his averaged to 15.1 points per night. He is second on the club in rebounding, hauling in 4.9 per game. The Dothan, Alabama native is averaging 20.2 ppg over his last eight, and now leads the Huskies in scoring in conference play at 17.7 ppg.
Julian Mackey averages 15 points on the season, good for fourth in the league. 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 first from the free throw line at an 80.5% clip and seventh in three-point field goals made at 2.2 per game. He and Dawkins 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.
This is the second meeting of the season between the two schools. HCU claimed an 83-79 victory on December 5 in the conference opener 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 the Lions, 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.
East Texas A&M is playing its season finale, closing out a tough season in which it is 4-26 overall record and 2-17 in conference play following Saturday's 75-68 loss to Incarnate Word. Jaret von Rosenburg is in his eighth season at the helm in Commerce, and Scooter Williams leads the Lions with 11.2 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game.
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 the final outcomes of Monday night's contests.
