COMMERCE, Texas --- Houston Christian University raced out to a huge second-half lead, then held off a furious comeback over the last 10 minutes to claim a 69-68 victory over East Texas A&M University at The Field House on Monday night. Leading by 21 with 9:52 to play, HCU managed to hold off the comeback bid and move into a tie for the eighth and final spot in the Southland Conference postseason field with just two games remaining in the regular season.
 
The two teams spent the first few minutes going back-and-forth, with both defenses trying to establish themselves. HCU would take an early 7-6 lead at the first media courtesy of three offensive putbacks, the first by Kylin Green before a pair by Demari Williams.
 
A deep three by Gianni Hunt provided the ninth lead change nearly seven minutes into the contest, giving ETAMU an 11-9 advantage. Demarco Bethea muscled his way for a lefty layup that tied the game up, but Hunt answered on the other end to push the Lions back up two.
 
D'Aundre Samuels would connect from deep out of the timeout and moments later Mambourou Mara took a nice dish from Samuels and finished strong, converting the conventional three-point play to hand HCU an 18-15 lead with 8:48 to go in the half.
 
Three more minutes would pass with punches still being traded. Damian Garcia scored on drive to bucket to pull the Lions within one, 22-21 but a tip-in by Bethea was followed by a layup from Samuels, pushing the HCU edge back to five, 26-21. Mara then connected from deep and Ryan Bartley scored on the break to hand Huskies a 10-point margin and force an East Texas A&M timeout with 3:11 to go.
 
The run continued after the break in action, as Bartley canned a triple and Trent Johnson scored on a nice spin move and jump hook with 28 seconds to go, pushing the Huskies ahead 36-23. HCU would take that lead into the break, having held the host Lions to just two points over the final 5:48 of the half to complete an 18-8 spurt over the final eight minute of the first frame.
 
An offensive stickback by Samuels just over two minutes into the second stanza gave HCU a 16-point lead, 40-24. Moments later Ryan Bartley connected from deep, pushing the Huskies advantage to 17 as the 16-minute media commenced.
 
Demarco Bethea grabbed an offensive board and converted and then two free throws by Mambourou Mara pushed HCU to a 19-point lead with 13:23 to go. Moments later, Mara cleaned up another missed layup and the Huskies led by 21.
 
East Texas A&M wasn't quite ready to go away however. Damian Garcia scored five quick points on a layup and three-ball and Gianni Hunt followed with a hit from deep, producing a swift 8-0 spurt over a 1:07 span that pulled the Lions to within 13, 56-43 at the under-eight timeout.
 
Straight out of that television break the Lions would cut the lead even more, getting to within nine on a Gianni Hunt layup before back-to-back buckets by Bethea stopped the bleeding and pushed the Huskies edge back into double-digits, 61-48.
 
A three-ball by Damian Garcia cut the lead to ten and ETAMU called timeout with 4:26 to play looking to make one last rush. After a pair of free throws by Ronnie Harrison, Vinny Sigona and Gianni Hunt each stroked three-pointers and suddenly it was a two-point game with 2:27 to go.
 
Mambourou Mara and Demari Williams would help keep the Lions at bay, both with strong finishes at the rim as the Huskies still led 67-63 with 52 seconds remaining. Another long-distance call from Hunt drew the Lions to the closest they'd been since the opening minutes, trailing 67-66 with 33 seconds left on the Field House scoreboard.
 
After a quick timeout to avert a 10-second call, the Huskies were able to waste a few seconds before D'Aundre Samuels was fouled with 12 seconds to go. He would calmly hit both charity shots to make it a three-point lead for the visitors as East Texas A&M called its final timeout.
 
Hunt was fouled with eight seconds remaining and knocked down both free throws to make it a one-point game again. The Lions would immediately foul Kylin Green with six seconds to go. Green missed the front end of the one-and-one but the ball was saved from going out of bounds by Mara and into the hands of Trent Johnson, who then threw it out to Demari Williams as the clock expired.
 
The Huskies, leading 56-35 with 9:52 to play, withstood the furious run by the hosts as the Lions mounted a 33-13 march over the final fourth of the contest. HCU shot 44% from the field on the evening and just 26% from the arc but used a 38-26 edge in the paint while scoring 21 points off 15 ETAMU turnovers. The hosts conversely shot 45% but nailed 7-15 from long range in the second half to fuel the comeback attempt. There were 20 lead changes and six ties in what turned into a nail-biter late.
 
Five Huskies recorded double-figures, led by Demarco Bethea, who tied his career-high with 15 to go with a game-high nine boards, five offensive. D'Aundre Samuels and Mambourou Mara each had 13, with Mara snaring seven boards. Demari Williams had 10 and six caroms and Ryan Bartley added 10 points as well.
 
East Texas A&M (11-19 | 6-14 SLC) got a game-high 25 points from Gianni Hunt, who went 5-7 from deep and a perfect 8-8 at the stripe. Damian Garcia was the only other Lion in double-digits with 15, as the Huskies held ETAMU's leading scorer Ronnie Harrison to just six points.
 
Combined with the other results around the league, the Huskies now find themselves in a tie with Lamar for the final spot in the eight-team postseason. Lamar fell to Nicholls at the buzzer at home in Beaumont on Monday evening, while Northwestern State moved into seventh place alone with its win over UIW. That loss for the Cardinals knocked them into a tie for ninth with East Texas A&M, one game behind HCU and Lamar with two games to play in the regular season.  
 
HCU, is now 11-18 overall and 7-13 in Southland play. The Huskies will now head home for the final homestand of the regular season against SFA on Saturday afternoon and Lamar on Monday night. Both contests are doubleheaders with the HCU women. 

The Lumberjacks lost to New Orleans on Monday night, closing their lead at the top of the table to just one game over McNeese. Lamar, which lost at the buzzer at home in Beaumont on Monday night will play at Incarnate Word on Saturday afternoon before heading to Sharp Gymnasium for the regular season finale on Monday night.
 
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