BEAUMONT --- Houston Christian University dropped a tough 64-56 decision to Lamar University on Monday night in Neches Arena at the Montagne Center. The Huskies used a staunch defensive effort to grab a six-point lead at the break, but the Cardinals returned the favor in the final ten minutes to pull away for the victory.
Lamar scored the first five points of the game, but HCU responded with a 10-0 run over the next three minutes to take the lead. Back-to-back buckets by
Mambourou Mara got the Huskies on the board, and moments later he would block a shot that led to a leakout bucket by
Demari Williams.
Demarco Bethea scored on a crafty move in the paint before King-Njhsanni White stopped the bleeding for Lamar with a three-pointer at the 15:33 mark. Tied at 10 it would be Mara again, as after a nice around-the-horn he connected from the corner to hand the Huskies a 13-10 advantage as the game hit the first media nearly eight minutes into the contest.
HCU would extend the lead moments over the next eight minutes.
Kylin Green hit a jumper with just over five minutes to go, and Mara connected again from deep to give the Huskies their largest lead of the night at eight, 24-16 with 4:12 left before the break.
A dunk by Janko Bulajic pulled the Cardinals to within four as the clock dipped under three minutes, but Green would make his way through traffic and score at the rim to push things back to eight before HCU settled for a 29-23 lead at intermission.
HCU continued to hold the lead to begin the second session, but Lamar would whittle away methodically. Robert Lee, Jr. scored 11 points in the first six minutes, capped by a three-pointer with 14:29 to go that gave the Cardinals the lead, 41-40. A
Ryan Bartley jumper gave the Huskies the advantage back, but it was short lived, as another quick five points from Lee, Jr. pushed the hosts out to a four-point edge, 46-42 with 12:21 still left to play.
The Huskies fought back. A pair of charity shots by
Demarco Bethea cut the lead to two, and just before the scoreboard hit the midway point of the stanza,
Trent Johnson connected from just in front of the HCU bench on the break, a three-ball that gave the Huskies a 47-46 lead.
Lamar then turned the tables on the Huskies. The Cardinals ramped up the defense over the next six minutes, holding the visitors scoreless over that stretch while taking command of the game. Andrew Holifield hit two free throws and a three-ball, and Lee Jr. cashed in again from distance to give LU a 54-47 lead with 6:01 to go.
Kylin Green split a pair of free throws for the Huskies to stop the burst with 4:18 to play, and
D'Aundre Samuels would hit a triple as HCU crept to within five, 58-53 with 2:48 to go. That would be the final field goal of the night, as Lamar held on for the hard-fought victory on their home hardwood.
The Huskies struggled from the field, hitting just 34% for the evening, including just a 4-20 mark from deep. HCU forced 16 turnovers and outrebounded the hosts by one, but the Cardinals did just enough on both ends to keep the Huskies at bay in the defensive slugfest. Lamar shot just 38% in the first half, but responded after the break with a 55% clip to outscore HCU by 14.
Three players hit double-digits for the Huskies, led by
Kylin Green who had 15 points to go with six boards and four assists.
Demarco Bethea had 13 points and four boards and
Mambourou Mara chipped in 10 points, five caroms, two blocks and two steals.
Demari Williams had eight points while tying for game-high honors with seven boards and a dishing out a game and career-best five dimes.
Lamar (9-8 / 4-4 SLC) was by Robert Lee, Jr. who posted a career-best 31 points, going 9-13 from the floor, 4-6 from deep and a perfect 9-9 from the charity stripe. He also had seven boards, tied with Braden East for team-high. Andrew Holifield had 12 points, four boards and four blocked shots and King-Njhsanni Wilhite chipped in 10 points and four assists.
Houston Christian University falls to 5-12 overall and 1-7 in Southland conference action. HCU will now embark on its longest home stretch of the year, a four-game stay in Sharp Gym that begins on Saturday when the Huskies host East Texas A&M. The game is slated for a 3:30 pm tip-off as the second half of a doubleheader with the HCU women.
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