Box Score

Game Highlights (video)

HOUSTON – Houston Baptist held Ecclesia without a field goal for the first 14:50 of the second half, outscoring the Royals 44-11 in the frame, including a 27-0 run, to cruise to a 94-40 victory in non-conference basketball Saturday night at Sharp Gym.
 
Senior forward Art Bernardi led HBU (6-14) with 20 points and 11 rebounds, his third-straight game with 20 or more points. Senior guard Anthony Hill went 5-for-9 from behind the arc to finish with 15 points, while freshman guard James Harper added 11 points and seven rebounds off the bench. Freshman forward Cody Joyce added nine points and six rebounds in only 15 minutes, while freshman guard Rob Lewis had eight points, six rebounds and five assists. Sophomore guard Marcel Smith also had five assists for the Huskies.
 
Rashad Colbert led Ecclesia (0-18) with 10 points, while Nathan Fort and Levi Roberts had eight points and five rebounds apiece.
 
HBU shot 56 percent from the field for the game, including 42 percent (8-for-19) from long range. Ecclesia shot 23.8 percent for the game and 22 percent from 3-point range. The Royals shot nine percent (3-for-35) in the second half, including six percent (1-for-18) from behind the arc. The Huskies outrebounded the Royals, 63-21, and outscored them, 27-0, in second-chance opportunities.
 
The Huskies scored the first six points of the game on layups by Bernardi, Joyce and Smith, but the Royals answered with a three by Colbert and a jumper in the lane by Fort. Bernardi flipped in a short jumper and on the next possession, fed Joyce cutting down the middle for a one-handed slam. Freshman guard Caleb Crayton got free on a fast break and took a dish from Smith all the way to the rack for a thunderous dunk to put HBU ahead 12-5 with 15:49 left.
 
Hill buried a 3-pointer, Bernardi made a reverse layup and Hill drilled another trey as the Huskies went up 22-9, but Brzozkiewicz and Berry hit back-to-back threes to cut HBU's lead to 26-17. The Huskies extended their lead to 14 on a layup by Bernardi and another triple by Hill. The Huskies went on an 11-0 run as Lewis hit a pair of short jumpers, Smith sank two free throws and Harper made a jumper and a three for a 46-21 lead with 2:33 remaining. Brzozkiewicz and Berry each hit 3-pointers for the Royals during the final two minutes, but the Huskies took a 50-29 lead into halftime.
 
HBU shot 60 percent from the field in the first half, while holding Ecclesia to 43 percent. The Huskies made 4-of-9 from behind the arc, and the Royals hit 5-of-9. HBU outrebounded Ecclesia, 26-5, in the opening frame. Bernardi led HBU with 18 points and nine rebounds at the break, while Fort, Roberts, Brzozkiewicz and Berry each had six for Ecclesia.
 
Over the first 14:50 of the second half, HBU outscored Ecclesia, 33-2, to take an 83-31 lead. Hill opened the second half with a pair of threes and Joyce added five points in the early going. Harper had six points and five rebounds in the second half, and punctuated the Huskies' win with an alley-oop slam from sophomore guard Duane Bowden with 1:10 to go. Freshman guard Mike Turner hit a couple of threes to join senior forward Lamar Thomas with six points in the half. Thomas also had seven rebounds and four blocks. Freshman forward Spenser Gales grabbed eight rebounds in only nine second-half minutes.
 
The Huskies return to action when they host NJIT in Great West Conference play Saturday, Feb. 2 at 2:05 p.m. at Sharp Gym.