Box Score

Game Highlights

Postgame Interview with Ron Cottrell (audio)

HOUSTON – Houston Baptist freshman guard Caleb Crayton exploded for a career-high 23 points and added six rebounds to extend the Huskies' winning streak to seven games with a 73-63 victory over Utah Valley in Great West Conference play Saturday night at Sharp Gym.
 
Crayton went 9-for-17 from the field, 1-of-3 from behind the arc, and 4-for-5 from the free throw line for the Huskies (11-14, 3-3 GWC). Freshman guard Rob Lewis came off the bench to score 12 points, going 4-for-9 from the field and 4-for-5 from the line. Senior forward Art Bernardi had 10 points and eight rebounds, while freshman forward Dauson Womack had 10 points off the bench. Senior guard Anthony Hill finished with nine points, sparking the Huskies with a pair of threes, one of which resulted in a four-point play.
 
Holton Hunsaker went 10-for-18 from the field, including 3-of-6 from long range, to score 26 points for the Wolverines (13-15, 2-5). Ben Aird posted a double-double with 19 points and 13 rebounds. Zach Jones and Jason Johnson scored eight each.
 
HBU shot 48 percent from the field, 36 percent (4-for-11) from 3-point range, while Utah Valley also shot 48 percent, but only 25 percent (3-for-12) from behind the arc. The Huskies held a huge advantage at the line, going 15-for-19, while the Wolverines were 4-for-9. Utah Valley outrebounded HBU, 34-32, but turned the ball over 15 times to the Huskies' 12. The Huskies' bench outscored the Wolverines', 24-0.
 
Utah Valley scored the first two buckets of the game, but the Huskies took an 11-8 lead on Hill's four-point play at the 14:49 mark. Hill buried another three-pointer to put HBU ahead, 14-10, but Hunsaker made three 3-pointers during a stretch in which the Wolverines outscored the Huskies, 15-2, to take a 25-16 lead. Utah Valley extended it's lead to 10, but HBU responded with an 8-0 run, including six-straight points by Womack, to cut the deficit to 31-29 with 4:28 remaining.
 
The Wolverines led 35-31 on a jumper by Aird with 2:07 left, but Crayton hit a jumper with just under a minute to go and buried a three at the buzzer to give the Huskies a 36-35 lead going into halftime. HBU is now 9-3 on the season when taking a lead into the break.
 
Crayton led the Huskies with 15 points in the half, while Hunsaker had 15 for the Wolverines. HBU shot 56 percent in the first half, while Utah Valley shot 50 percent. The Huskies hit 4-of-6 from behind the arc, and the Wolverines made 3-of-5. Utah Valley outrebounded HBU, 17-12, and outscored the Huskies, 9-2 , on second-chance opportunities.
 
Bernardi scored the first two baskets of the second half, and his putback with 17:15 left put the Huskies ahead, 44-38, but the Wolverines got a jumper from Hunsaker and a layup from Johnson to get back within two. Hunsaker sank another jumper to tie it at 46 with 14:48 to go, but HBU reclaimed the lead as Lewis made back-to-back layups and Smith made a reverse layup.
 
HBU took a 58-50 lead with 8:08 remaining on a jumper by Crayton, and a free throw each from Bernardi and Lewis. Crayton drilled a 17-footer, then sank a pair of free throws to push the Huskies' lead to 64-52 with 5:26 to go. After Hunsaker made one of two from the line, Lewis drove in for jumper off the glass to extend the Huskies' advantage to 13, their largest lead of the game.
 
The Huskies led 68-57 on Bernardi's short jumper with just under three minutes remaining, but the Wolverines answered with a hook in the lane by Aird and a jumper in the lane by Hunsaker to cut their deficit to seven.
 
Bernardi made a steal near midcourt and was fouled hard by Johnson with 1:06 to go, and both players were tangled up under the basket. Johnson was called for a technical foul for shoving Bernardi. Bernardi made one of two, and Lewis made both technical free throws to give HBU a 10-point lead and the ball.
 
HBU's seven-game winning streak is its longest over the last five seasons, since returning to the Divison I level. The last streak longer than seven games was when the 2006-07 squad won nine in a row from Jan. 20-Feb. 19. Bernardi has scored in double figures in 10-straight games, while Hill has started the last 10 games and has shot 47 percent (21-for-45) from long distance.
 
The Huskies return to action when they host future Southland Conference foe New Orleans Monday at 7:05 p.m. at Sharp Gym.