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HOUSTON – HBU had five players in double figures for the first time this season as the Huskies grinded out a 99-84 victory over Arlington Baptist Saturday night at Sharp Gym.
 
Senior center Ricmonds Vilde recorded a double-double with 14 points and a career-high 16 rebounds, while senior guard Marcel Smith added 13 points and tied his career high with eight assists for the Huskies (4-3). Junior guard Jourdan Stickler came off the bench to score a career-high 12 points, sophomore forward Reveal Chukwujekwu had 11 points, and sophomore center Cody Stetler scored a career-high 10 points off the bench.
 
ABC (3-8) also had five players in double figures and were led by Raphael Garcia, who went 5-for-8 from behind the arc, and finished with 18 points. Caleb Brown added 13, Patrick Howard scored 12, while Josh Green and Brandon Bonner had 10 apiece.
 
HBU shot 62.9 percent from the field, including 4-for-10 from 3-point range, and went 17-for-26 from the free throw line. ABC stayed in the game by going 11-for-26 from long distance and shot 41.9 percent overall, but only 11-for-22 from the free throw line.
 
The Patriots cut the Huskies' lead to 27-20 on a three by Garcia with 7:56 left in the first half, but Smith answered with a triple of his own and Vilde powered inside for a layup to put HBU back up by 12. Howard made a jumper, Shrake made a layup and a pair of free throws got ABC within six with just under five minutes to go. HBU then went on a 10-0 run over the next 1:39, getting a layup by Stickler, a three-point play by freshman guard Trey Patterson, a three by Stickler and an alley-oop dunk by Vilde from Smith to lead 44-28. Garcia nailed another three to get the Patriots back within 10 with 1:38 left, and the Huskies took a 50-41 lead at halftime.
 
HBU led 54-43 two minutes into the second half, but the Huskies outscored the Patriots, 15-5, over the next five-and-a-half minutes lead 69-48 with 12:35 left. A dunk by Vilde, a three-point play by Odunsi and a layup by Stetler extended the Huskies' lead to 28, their largest of the game, with 5:56 to go, but the Patriots quickly got it back under 20 after a three-point play by Brown made it 90-71 with 3:24 remaining. Stetler's three-point play with 2:15 on the clock gave HBU a 23-point lead, then ABC scored seven-straight in a 35 second span.
 
Junior forward Caleb Crayton stopped the run with a highlight-reel breakaway one-handed slam, but Kiel Miller hit a three as the Patriots closed within 15 for the final margin.
 
The Huskies return to action when they travel across town to face Houston Tuesday at 7 p.m. The game will be shown live on ESPN3 and the audio broadcast is available on HBUHuskies.com at 6:45 p.m.