🆚 East Texas A&M University
📆 Monday – February 23, 2026
⏰ 6:30 pm CT
🏟️ The Field House – Commerce Texas
📈 LIVE STATS
📺 ESPN+
🗒️ Game NOTES
Houston Christian University plays its final road game of the regular season on Monday night as it takes on East Texas A&M University at The Field House in Commerce. Following Saturday's action, the Huskies are now tied with the Lions as well as Incarnate Word one game back of the eighth and final berth in the Southland Conference Tournament with just three games remaining in the campaign.
HCU dropped the penultimate regular season road contest of the campaign,
falling 71-53 to Northwestern State University in Prather Coliseum on Saturday afternoon. The Huskies trailed by two with just under six minutes to go in the first half, but a big closing run by the hosts heading into the intermission proved to be decisive.
Northwestern State got out to a 17-9 lead at the 11-minute mark, but a three and a layup from
Kylin Green drew HCU within five with eight to go before the break. Another hit from deep by Green was chased by an offensive putback by
Demarco Bethea, closing the gap to just two, 25-23 with 5:40 on the scoreboard. That is where the Demons began to assert themselves, limiting the Huskies to two points over the final stretch as a three-ball by Landon Jumawon pushed the lead to nine, and Izzy Miles scored five over the final run to push NSU to a 12-point halftime margin, 37-25.
The lead would grow to 14 on a Willie Williams jumper right out of the chute and Northwestern's second-half opening run reached 14-5 on another long ball by Jumawan as the Demons took a 49-30 lead with 13:10 to play.
HCU cut the lead down to 11 as consecutive three-pointers by
D'Aundre Samuels and
Demari Williams two minutes later capped a quick 8-0 spurt. Northwestern State answered however as back-to-back lay-ins from Chris Mubiru and Williams pushed the lead back to 18 at the 6:05 mark and the Demons coasted down the stretch.
Three Huskies recorded double-figure outings, led by
Kylin Green with 15.
Demarco Bethea had 10 points and seven boards while
Ryan Bartley added 10 points as well.
Craig Doty, the ninth head coach in program history, is now in his second season at the helm after guiding HCU to a 12-20 overall mark and 9-11 ledger in Southland Conference action in 2024-25. It was announced in early December that
Doty has signed a contract extension through the 2029-30 season.
The Huskies doubled their success rate from the previous season, going from six total wins to 12 and from four victories to nine in conference play, finishing seventh in the league after being picked to finish last. HCU advanced to the Southland Tournament and saw
Bryson Dawkins named All-Conference as just the second player in program history to pick up SLC First Team honors.
The Huskies are now 10-18 on the season and 6-13 in conference play and sit in that three-way tie with East Texas A&M and Incarnate Word. UIW defeated ETAMU in Commerce on Saturday afternoon to forge the logjam, and the Cardinals face Northwestern State on Monday in Natchitoches. HCU, ETAMU and UIW now sit one game behind Northwestern State and Lamar, both at 7-12 in the eighth spot.
Elijah Brooks, who missed the first four games of the season and has not played since returning from the Christmas break, still leads HCU at 12.3 points per night while also chipping in 4.5 boards, 3.1 assists and 1.5 steals per game.
Kylin Green is just behind him at 10.3 points to go with 4.0 boards and 4.5 assists per night. The 13 assists by Green against ULM (11/13) were the most in a game for HCU since Mike Moss had 13 vs. Chicago State in 2011 and he currently third in the SLC in assists per game. He had his third double-digit assist effort of the season with 10 along with the game-winning basket with 4.3 seconds remaining in the 82-80 win over Northwestern State (1/19), becoming the first HCU player with three such outings in a season since Ricky Bennett in 2003-04.
His six dimes vs. UIW (1/27) put him at 104 to become the first HCU player to hit the century mark in a single-season since Ian DuBose had 111 during the 2019-20 campaign. With his six assists in back-to-back games against UNO (2/14) and Nicholls (2/16) Green pushed his season total to 126, the most by an HCU player since Anthony Odunsi had 123 during the 2015-16 campaign. He now sits at 127 on the season.
Since the Christmas break,
Demari Williams has provided a huge spark for the Huskies, first off the bench before then making his first start of the season at UIW.
He has scored in double-figures 10 times in the 15 games since returning from the holiday. In those 15 games (13 starts) Williams is one of just two HCU players averaging double-digits, leading the Huskies in scoring (13.3 ppg) while shooting 46% from the floor, 35% from deep and 81% from the charity stripe. The redshirt junior from Fulshear is averaging a team-best 11.9 ppg as well as 3.8 rebounds in conference action.
Williams had a then career-best 19 points in the loss at then No. 3 Iowa State in the first game back (Dec. 29) and broke it five days later with his first-ever 20-point night, scoring 22 in the loss to UIW (1/3). That high then fell as well in the homestand finale, as Williams led a huge rally against UIW (1/27) with his 24 points on a career-best 13-14 from the free throw line. Williams averaged 23 points and six rebounds on 15-23 (65%) shooting from the field in the two regular-season games against UIW.
The Huskies have two players in double-figures overall on the season as Williams dipped back down under 10 following the loss at Northwestern State. He is now at 9.7 following his run over the last month-and-a-half. In conference action, the Huskies do have three players in double-figures with Williams (11.9) sitting just ahead of
Elijah Brooks (11.5) for the team lead while
Demarco Bethea averages 10.5 and also leads HCU on the backboards at 5.6 per in conference action. Bethea is one of six players averaging 3.6 or more caroms in SLC play. Green (9.5),
Ryan Bartley (9.4),
D'Aundre Samuels (8.5) and
Trent Johnson (8.0), give the Huskies seven players at eight points or more in Southland action.
D'Aundre Samuels has come on over the past 12 games, starting 11 of those games. In that stretch, he is averaging 10.8 points, 4.1 caroms and 2.7 assists while shooting 33% from the arc. On the four-game homestand (Jan 17-27), he averaged 11 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.0 steals, then upped his scoring to 12.8 on the four-game road trip. He had 15 points and the game-winning runner in the win over UNO (2/14).
Ryan Bartley shot 9-19 from the arc on the four-game road stretch, including matching his career-best with four at TAMUCC on January 31. Bartley is now 16-41 (39%) from long distance over his last 12 games.
Demarco Bethea posted a career-best 15 points in the win over Nicholls (2/16) after matching his career-high of 14 three separate times this season. He recorded his first-ever double-double with 14 points and a career-high 10 rebounds against UTRGV (1/24).
Mambourou Mara has 12 games this season with two or more blocks, including three games with three and two outings with his career-high of four (Southern Arkansas / ULM). He is currently fourth in the Southland in blocks with 1.4 per game.
On February 12,
Trent Johnson was selected to the
E*TRADE Men's 3-Point contest "watch list" as part of 37th annual State Farm College Slam Dunk & 3-Point Championships at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on Friday, April 3. The event will be broadcast nationally on ESPN on Sunday (April 5). Johnson is currently averaging 8.5 points per game for the Huskies while knocking down 41.7% of his tries from long distance. He is 18th in the Southland Conference in three-pointers per game at 1.7 and is also hitting a robust 83.6% from the free throw line.
The four-game homestand in late January opened with a game against East Texas A&M,
an 81-70 win for the Huskies in Sharp Gym. HCU trailed by double-figures in the first half, then broke away from a tie game with 10 to play, holding the Lions to just seven points over a decisive nine-minute stretch late.
Trent Johnson had a then career-high 19 points as well as a career-best six assists to lead the Huskies, who also got 15 points, five caroms, six dimes and a career-high five pilfers from
D'Aundre Samuels. Damian Garcia led ET with 19 points while Ronnie Harrison added 18.
ETAMU is led by ninth-year head coach Jaret von Rosenberg, who has the Lions sitting at 11-17 overall and 6-12 in the league. The Huskies lead the all-time series with ET 7-6, with each having won just one time on the others hardwood.
Harrison, a 6'8 junior forward, leads the Lions at 15 points per game in conference play while adding six boards per. Gianni Hunt, a 6'4 senior guard, is second in the league in assists at 5.0 while averaging 11.4 points and 4.3 rebounds in conference action. 6'5 senior guard Garcia averages 10.4 points and 3.6 boards while Noah Pagotto, a 6'8 junior forward checks in at 11.6 points and a team-best 6.7 rebounds.
The Huskies are 5-5 all-time on February 21, last playing in 2018 in an 87-73 loss at Lamar. The last victory HCU on this date was against NJIT in 2009, a 70-51 win in Sharp Gym. A 7-6 ledger is held on February 23, with the last time playing behind an 85-80 victory over McNeese in 2023.
After the completion of this road trip, there will be just two games remaining in the regular season, both coming at home. HCU hosts Stephen F. Austin on Saturday afternoon, February 28 and the following Monday night against Lamar University. Both contests will be the back-end of doubleheaders with the HCU women.
#DawgsUp
