University of Houston Athletics
University of Houston
Centenary
Cougars Fall To Centenary, 63-57
1/19/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 19, 2004
Houston, Texas - Andrew Wisniewski scored 18 of his game-high 27 points in the second half to lead Centenary to a 63-57 comeback win over Houston in a non-conference game Monday night at Hofheinz Pavilion.
The Cougars took control of the game early as they opened up a 15-7 lead in the first nine minutes as Marcus Oliver scored eight points and Andre Owens added four.
Houston extended its lead to 30-18 as Owens scored six points and Oliver netted four to lead the run.
"Tonight we showed conclusively that it's a 40-minute game," Houston head coach Ray McCallum said. "We had it going early, but we just couldn't sustain it. Centenary hung around and got us into foul trouble."
Houston's senior center Anwar Ferguson was limited to just 23 minutes, including nine in the first half when he picked up two fouls in the opening period. He was called for his third foul with 17:47 left to play and forced to sit out the next five minutes.
With Houston's leading shot blocker missing, Centenary took advantage quickly. The Gents ended the first half with a 6-0 run to trim Houston's lead to six, 30-24, at the intermission as Wisniewski made two free throws, Kingwood native Chad Maclies scored a tip-in and Rickey Evans made a lay-up.
The Cougars opened the second half with a 6-1 run to extend their lead to 11, 36-25, in the first four minutes.
But, Centenary closed to within, 38-37, with 10:57 remaining and tied the score 44-44 with 5:13 left to play as Wisniewski scored 10 points to lead the rally.
After both teams exchanged baskets, Centenary took its first lead, 48-46, with 3:58 left play after Ronald Mickel scored a lay-up off a Houston turnover. The Cougars trailed the rest of the way as Centenary hit 15 of their last 16 free throws in the final 4:34 to put the game out of reach.
Oliver finished the game with 19 points to lead Houston, while Owens added 18 points. Ramon Dyer pulled down a career-high 16 rebounds, but scored just four points after hitting just one of his five field goal attempts.
The loss drops Houston record to 7-8, and the Cougars begin a three-game road trip to Memphis on January 24, to Louisville on January 28 and USF on January 31.
