HOUSTON – HBU blocked 15 shots and held Dallas Christian without a 3-pointer as the Huskies cruised to an 88-44 victory in non-conference basketball Saturday night at Sharp Gym.
Freshman forward
Terry Harris came off the bench to lead HBU (2-2) with 14 points, hitting 5-of-8 from the field and 3-for-5 behind the arc, while adding three steals. Senior guard
Marcel Smith hit a pair of threes and had 12 points, two assists and two steals, and junior forward
Colter Lasher had 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting. Sophomore guard
Reveal Chukwujekwu had nine points, six rebounds and a pair of blocks and senior center
Ricmonds Vilde had nine points and four boards in only 15 minutes. Junior guard
Caleb Crayton had eight points, five rebounds and two blocks in nine minutes, and freshman center
Josh Ibarra tied his career-high with six blocks and led the Huskies with seven rebounds.
Derrick Hearns led DCC (2-9) with 10 points, six rebounds and two assists, while Miles Burnside had seven points. The Crusaders' leading scorer, Trent Dawson, was held to 0-for-12 shooting from the field.
The Huskies shot 59 percent from the field for the game, including 8-for-18 from 3-point range, but only 8-for-16 from the free-throw line, while holding the Crusaders to 23.3 percent, 0-for-12 from long distance, but they went 16-for-26 from the stripe. HBU outrebounded DCC, 48-33, and the Huskies' 15 blocked shots were the most in a single game since returning to Division I in 2007-08.
HBU outscored DCC, 11-2, over the first four minutes, getting seven quick points from Vilde. The Crusaders answered with back-to-back buckets from Harris and Walls to get to within five. The Huskies led 15-8, but went on an 11-0 run that included a pair of three-pointers by Smith and one by Harris.
Harris buried two more threes to put HBU ahead by 25 with 7:12 to go and stretched its lead to as many as 29 in the opening frame. Senior guard
Tyler Russell's three-point play with 1.3 seconds left on the clock gave the Huskies a 49-22 lead heading into halftime.
Smith led the Huskies with 10 points, while Vilde and Harris each added nine at the break. Burnside, Walls and Hearns each had four points for the Crusaders at the half. HBU shot 60 percent from the field, including 7-for-11 from 3-point range, while DCC shot 25 percent and 0-for-6 from long distance in the opening frame.
Lasher drilled a three on the first possession of the second half to make the Huskies' lead 30. HBU led 66-33, then outscored DCC, 12-2, on a pair of layups Crayton, a breakaway dunk by freshman guard
Trey Patterson and a three-point play by Harris to lead by 43 with 4:21 to go.
Junior guard
Mike Turner made layups on two-straight possessions, then sophomore forward
Alex Fountain took a dish from Crayton for a layup to give the Huskies their largest lead of the game at 88-41 with 31 seconds to go.
The Huskies return to action when they travel to face crosstown rival Rice Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at Tudor Fieldhouse.
