Highlights & Postgame Interview (video)

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HOUSTON – With the game tied with 5:43 left, HBU scored seven-straight points and held off Rice for a 73-71 victory, the Huskies' first-ever win over the Owls in the crosstown series, Wednesday night at Sharp Gym.
 
Junior guard Marcel Smith and sophomore guard Rob Lewis each scored 16 points for the Huskies (3-5). Smith was perfect for the night, 5-for-5 from the field, including 2-for-2 from 3-point range, and went 4-for-4 from the line, while adding four assists. Lewis hit 4-of-7 from the field, 8-for-8 from the free-throw line, and had four rebounds and three assists. All eight of Lewis' free throws came in the final 2:31 of the game.
 
Junior center Ricmonds Vilde added 11 points and five rebounds, while sophomore forward Cody Joyce had 10 points and four boards for HBU. Sophomore guard Caleb Crayton led the Huskies with six rebounds, and sophomore forward Dauson Womack had five.
 
Austin Ramljak went 7-for-12, all from 3-point range, and led Rice (3-5) with 23 points. Keith Washington made 7-of-11 from the field, 3-of-5 from behind the arc, to add 18 points off the bench, while Sean Obi had 13 points and six rebounds. Seth Gearhart led the Owls on the glass with seven rebounds, and Max Guercy had five points, five rebounds and five assists.
 
HBU shot 48 percent for the game, including 4-of-10 from long range, while Rice shot 45 percent, hitting 10-of-25 from 3-point range. The Huskies went 19-of-25 from the free-throw line, and the Owls went 17-of-24. HBU outrebounded Rice, 35-27, including 7-3 on offensive boards.
 
The Huskies hit their first eight field goals of the game, including threes by Smith and Vilde and a pair of jump hooks by Joyce, as they jumped out to a 19-9 lead with 12:34 remaining. HBU's first miss came at the 12:01 mark of the first half, then Rice began to whittle away the deficit, cutting it to four with 6:53 left, after getting five-straight points from Washington.
 
Vilde's second trey of the opening frame pushed HBU's lead back up to seven with just under four minutes to go, but Obi answered with a layup and Gearhart sank a pair of free throws to trim the lead to three. The Huskies took a 32-29 lead into halftime.
 
Junior guard Tyler Russell nailed a jumper for HBU to open the second half scoring, but Obi made back-to-back layups as Rice got to within one. Ramljak hit back-to-back threes to give the Owls their first lead of the game, 39-38, with 14:51 left, but the Huskies took it right back on a layup by freshman center Cody Stetler.
 
A dunk by Andrew Drone put Rice ahead by two, but Smith knocked down a three and a jumper to put HBU back up by three, 46-43, with 10:38 on the clock. Drew Bender hit two free throws and Washington made a three to give the Owls the advantage, then Crayton drove inside to tie it. Washington once again gave Rice the lead with a jumper, but Joyce's free throws with 8:15 to go tied the game, 50-50. Bahrom Firozgary's free throws put Rice up, but Lewis buried a pair of free-throw line jumpers to put HBU back on top. Obi's free throws tied the game for the sixth time in the half, 54-54, with 5:43 to go, but Crayton made one-of-two from the line, freshman guard Jimmy Barton made a pair of free throws, Vilde slammed home a dish from Lewis, and Lewis capped the spurt with another jumper to extend the Huskies' lead back to seven with 3:37 left.
 
Obi converted a three-point play and made one-of-two from the free line to trim HBU's lead to three, but Lewis hit four-straight free throws to make the score, 65-58, with 2:05 remaining. Ramljak made a three, then Lewis made two more freebies, Ramljak went to the line and made two, but Smith made the lead six with two free throws with 25 seconds left. Marcus Jackson made a layup with 18 seconds left as Rice closed the gap to 69-65, but Lewis hit a pair of free throws with 13 seconds left. Ramljak nailed another three with three ticks left to make the score 71-68, but Smith iced the game with two free throws with 1.5 seconds left. HBU did not defend Rice's final play of the game, and Washington hit an uncontested three  for the final margin.
 
The Huskies made their last 12 free throws and went 16-for-18 from the line over the last 5:30 of the game. HBU had failed to come away with a win in six previous meetings against Rice, which is located less than nine miles away along U.S. 59.
 
The Huskies return to action when they travel to face No. 21 Michigan Saturday at 11 a.m. CST at Chrisler Arena in Ann Arbor, Mich.