🆚 College of Biblical Studies - Houston
📆 Friday – November 13, 2026
⏰ 7 pm CT
🏟️ Historic Sharp Gymnasium – Houston, Texas
📈 LIVE STATS       
📺 ESPN+ 
🗒️ GAME PROGRAM    
🗒️ GAME NOTES  
 
Houston Christian University returns to the friendly confines of historic Frank and Lucille Sharp Gymnasium for three of its next four contests, beginning with a Friday the 13th tilt against cross-town neighbor College of Biblical Studies-Houston. Tip-off is slated for 7 pm.
 
HCU completed a 2-0 trip to the Midwest with a thorough 87-76 victory over University of South Dakota on Tueday night in Vermillion. The Huskies led for 36 minutes on the evening, withstood the Coyotes cutting a double-digit lead to one midway through the second half, and pulled away down the stretch for a big road victory.
 
Trailing by two at the first half under-12 media, HCU went on a 13-5 run to take control. Max Alexander would hit two triples to push HCU ahead 27-21 with 7:55 to go in the first frame. Jonas Nichols would hit a turnaround and then a floater on the baseline a moment later to give HCU its largest advantage of the first half at 44-32 with 58 seconds to go leading to a 44-34 edge at intermission.
 
Out of the half, Bubz Alvarez hit a layup off a turnover to push the lead to its biggest of the night at 16, 52-36 with 17:35 to go. South Dakota would respond with a run of their own, going on a 19-4 run over the next seven minutes to cut their deficit to one on a driving layup by Vince Buzelis. Kris Keinys would stop the bleeding with a nice move in the paint, a bucket that then began a game-deciding spurt for the Huskies.
 
Nichols would can two three-pointers in the stretch, the second giving HCU a 70-63 lead as the clock snuck under five minutes. Alexander then scored six straight, sandwiching four charity shots around a layup that pushed the Huskies back out in front by double-figures, 76-65 with 3:04 to play. The Coyotes would get no closer than seven the rest of the way as the Huskies cruised to the finish line.
 
Alexander led all scorers with 26 points, going 8-12 from the floor, 3-5 from the arc and 7-11 from the free throw line while also adding three boards and four assists. Nichols was 10-14 from the field and hit 3-6 from deep for his career-best 25 points in 17 minutes off the bench.
 
Mambourou Mara registered his second double-double of the campaign with 10 points and a game-high 10 off the backboards and matched his career-high with four blocks. D'Aundre Samuels chipped in 10 as well while adding four steals to complete the double-figure quartet for HCU, who led for over 36 minutes on the evening.
 
It was the third straight victory to open the campaign, the first 3-0 start to a season since 2005-06 when HCU won its first four contests of the season. The 51 points by Alexander and Nichols was the most points combined in a contest for HCU since Bryson Dawkins and Julian Mackey each went for 27 in a 70-62 victory at Southeastern Louisiana on January 27, 2025.
 
HCU is coming off a second consecutive 12-20 season under Craig Doty, who enters his third season at the helm. HCU went 8-14 and tied for seventh place in the league and advanced to its second straight Southland Conference Tournament.
 
HCU returned just two players off of last year's team in 6'3 senior guard D'Aundre Samuels and 6'6 senior forward Mambourou Mara. Those two have joined a cast of 13 total newcomers for the Huskies, a bunch that includes 11 transfers. Eight of those transfers carry previous NCAA Division 1 experience, and the 15-man roster boasts players from seven different states and four countries.
 
Max Alexander leads HCU at 19 points per game, followed closely by Jonas Nichols at 18.7 per as the pair rank third and fourth in the Southland early on. Nichols is second in the SLC in field goal percentage (67%) and tied for fourth in three-point percentage (54%).
 
Bubz Alvarez averages nine points, 4.3 rebounds, two assists and 1.7 steals per game, while Mambourou Mara is averaging eight points, a team-best 8.3 boards and two blocked shots per game. He leads the Southland in boards and is tied for second in blocked shots. Alvarez, Chris Mubiru and D'Aundre Samuels are tied for seventh in the league in steals per game at 1.7 per.
 
Tuesday night's game is just the second meeting ever between HCU and CBS-Houston. The Huskies defeated the Ambassadors 85-67 last year behind four players in double-digit scoring.
 
CBS is led by former University of Houston star Michael Young, a member of Phi Slamma Jamma who was a two-time All-Southwest Conference selection who helped the Cougars to back-to-back championship game appearances in 1983 and 1984. The Ambassadors are currently 1-3 overall on the season, and have also played three other games, all exhibitions against Prairie View A&M, McNeese and Texas Southern.
 
 The Ambassadors are paced on offense by 6'0 sophomore guard Odis Carter, Jr.. The Booker T. Washington product transferred from Paris Junior College and leads the way at 22.1 points while also adding 4.3 rebounds and 2.6 assists.
 
Also notable for CBS are Marquice Scott, a 6'1 guard from Houston; Samuel Johnson, a 6'5 forward who played with Carter in high school and junior college, and Frank Madubuko, a 6-8 senior forwrad from Birmingham, England. Scott averages 19.8 points and had 21 points against the Huskies in last year's game. Johnson goes for 12.3 points and a team-best 7.7 rebounds, while Madubuko averages 7.7 points and 5.6 boards on the campaign.
 
HCU is 6-5 all-time on November 13, and has played three straight years on this date. The Huskies defeated ULM 72-61 last year in Sharp Gym. On Friday the 13th, the Huskies are 2-4 all-time, with the most recent game coming in 2019, a loss at No. 11 Texas Tech.
 
Following the game with CBS, the Huskies will play at home again next Thursday when it hosts former Trans America Conference rival Georgia Southern University.
 
 
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