HOUSTON --- Houston Christian University rallied from a 17-point first half deficit and outlasted University of the Incarnate Word 81-75 at Sharp Gymnasium on Tuesday night. In another donnybrook between the two rivals, the Huskies got career-highs from Demari Williams and Trent Johnson and raced past the Cardinals late to lead by as many as 10 down the stretch and put the capper on a much-needed 3-1 homestand.
 
HCU jumped ahead 5-0 but the Cardinals responded by scoring 13 unanswered over the next four minutes. Jordan Pyke hit two from long range to get the burst started and a thunderous put-back dunk by Jayden Williams finished it off to give UIW a 13-5 advantage at the 14:46 mark.
 
The visitors from the Alamo City weren't done there. Two long triples by Davion Bailey pushed the lead to its largest at 30-13 with 10:20 still yet to play in the first half. The Cardinals still led by 16 five minutes later but Demari Williams scored four points and a layup from Demarco Bethea cut the deficit for HCU to just eight with 43 seconds on the clock before the Cards went to the break ahead 41-31.
 
The tide would begin to shift to start the second stanza as the Huskies chipped away, slicing things down to three on a layup by Demari Williams at the 16:46 mark. After a steal by Ryan Bartley and a lead pass ahead to Kylin Green for a sprawling finish, the Huskies found themselves down just a bucket with 13:38 to go.
 
UIW would extend the lead back out to seven on a tip-in by Mihael Tomic and the lead would stay at seven on another offensive put-back, this by Pyke at the 8:40 mark. HCU would then score the next seven points to knot the game at 58 before another bucket by Pyke put UIW back up a score. On the ensuing possession, Trent Johnson found himself wide open on the wing in transition, and knocked down a catch-and-shoot triple that lit up the Sharp Gym crowd and handed the Huskies their first lead since the opening moments of the game.
 
After a UIW free-throw tied things it was Williams turn, as he knocked down a three with exactly six minutes to play to give HCU a 64-61 advantage that it wouldn't relinquish. That lead grew as many as 10 twice in the final stages on free throws by Trent Johnson before he added consecutive dunks on the back end of the broken press much to the delight of a frenzied student section as the Huskies won going away.
 
Both teams shot 44 percent from the floor. UIW went 10-24 from the arc but HCU countered with a season-high 29-37 effort from the charity stripe. The Huskies forced 20 turnovers that led to 26 points and outscored the Cardinals 38-26 in the paint.
 
Demari Williams went 13-14 from the stripe and finished with a career-high 24 points, breaking his career-best of 22 set in the earlier matchup with UIW in San Antonio. Trent Johnson posted his first-ever 20-point game, going 3-5 from long range and 7-8 from the charity line.
 
Kylin Green had 12 points and six assists, while Demarco Bethea added 12 points, eight boards and three steals for the Huskies.
 
Jordan Pyke led the Cardinals (9-12, 4-8 SLC) with 27 points on 10-16 shooting overall and 4-5 from the arc and also pulled down a team-high eight boards. Davion Bailey and Tahj Staveskie, the Southland Conference's leading scoring duo coming in at 18 points per game apiece, were held in check on this night with Bailey held to just eight and Staveskie needing an 10-point burst over the final 1:45 to finish with 16.
 
HCU finishes its season-long four-game homestand with a 3-1 mark, improving to 8-13 overall and 4-8 in the Southland to begin the second half of the 22-game SLC slate. The Huskies now embark on a four-game road swing, first traveling down the coastline to take on Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Saturday afternoon.
 
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