NACOGDOCHES --- Houston Christian University dug an early hole in the Piney Woods and never recovered, falling to Stephen F. Austin State University 85-67 on Saturday evening at William R. Johnson Coliseum.
A 7-0 run to begin the contest by SFA was led off by a three from Lateef Patrick and capped with a transition score by Chrishawn Christmas that forced an HCU timeout less than two minutes into the game. The run would reach 12 on another triple by Patrick at the 16:36 mark which brought about another stoppage by the Huskies.
HCU finally broke the ice on its four-minute opening drought on a deep-ball by
D'Aundre Samuels with 15:54 on the board. The Huskies then got defensive in their fight to get back into things.
Kylin Green put home two free throws and was followed by a
Demari Williams layup to get the deficit down to ten with 12:55 left in the first half.
The burst would continue as
D'Aundre Samuels scored on nifty reverse scoop, and Williams connected from deep to get the Huskies to within five, 19-14 with 11:31 to go.
Samuels would hit two free throws then got a leak out layup as the clock dipped under nine minutes. The bucket finished off a 13-2 stretch over a five-minute span that got the Huskies to within three, 21-18.
SFA would respond however, and a three-ball by Kam Burton and a layup by Christmas gave the Jacks their double-digit lead back at the 7:29 mark. After a hook in the lane by Williams,HCU would then hit another cold-spell and Gediminas Alisas scored six straight points to hand the Lumberjacks their largest lead of the half, 36-21 with 3:30 to go.
The two teams would trade baskets for the final three minutes and a
Demarco Bethea score off a pick-and-roll got HCU to within 13. The Jacks headed to the intermission with a 43-28 lead, a margin aided by a 22-10 half-closing stretch over the final nine minutes.
Nearly two scoreless minutes went by in the second frame before points were put on the board on a pair of charity shots by
Trent Johnson. SFA then put together a quick 10-2 march as Marcus Scurry sandwiched a three and a fallaway jumper around a Narit Chotikavanic triple that gave the Jacks a 17-point lead, 51-34 at the first second-half media.
Chotikanavic remained hot as he would can three more from deep to push the hosts ahead by 24. A
Mambourou Mara three from the corner got HCU back to within 20 with 7:23 to play but HCU would get no closer than 17 the rest of the way, coming on back-to-back dunks by Mara in the final minute.
Demari Williams led the Huskies with 15 points, the fourth double-digit outing in his last five games and
Mambourou Mara matched his season-high with 12 points.
D'Aundre Samuels had a solid all-around effort with 11 points to go with a game-high of seven boards and a team-leading five assists.
Ryan Bartley had 10 points for the Huskies, who shot 49% on the evening, but just 29% from long range.
SFA (13-3 / 6-1 SLC) was led by Keon Thompson who scored 16 points. Patrick Lateef had 14 points and five boards while Narit Chotikanavic went 4-10 from deep to finish with 14 as well. Gediminas Alisas had 10 points while Kam Burton chipped in eight points, six boards and four dimes. The Jacks had just six turnovers and grabbed 18 offensive rebounds as part of a plus-10 on the backboards.
Houston Christian University is now 5-11 overall and 1-6 in Southland conference action. HCU completes the road pair on Monday with its shortest trip of the season over to the Golden Triangle to tangle with Lamar University in Beaumont. Tip-off from Neches Arena at the Montagne Center is slated for 6 pm.
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