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HOUSTON – HBU saw its 13-point second half lead whittled down to one, but the Huskies came up with a pair of stops when they needed them most to score a 79-77 victory over Lamar in Southland Conference basketball Saturday night at Sharp Gym. The Huskies won their third-straight game, sweeping the homestand, and improving to 7-1 this season at Sharp.
 
Senior guard Tyler Russell had 16 points and five rebounds, while junior guard Anthony Odunsi had 16 points, going 10-for-14 from the line, four assists and three steals for the Huskies (9-8, 4-3 SLC). Senior guard Marcel Smith added nine off the bench, while sophomore forward Colter Lasher also had nine. Freshman center Josh Ibarra led HBU with eight rebounds.
 
Anthony Holliday went 9-for-14 from the field and 11-for-14 from the line to finish with 30 points, 23 in the second half, for Lamar (10-9, 4-3), while Tyran de Lattibeaudiere had 17 points and six rebounds. LeMon Gregory had eight points and also grabbed six boards.
 
HBU shot 45.8 percent from the field, 5-for-13 from behind the arc, and 30-for-37 from the line, while Lamar shot 47.3 percent, but only 3-for-17 from 3-point range, and 22-for-27 from the line. The Huskies outrebounded the Cardinals, 31-29, and only committed nine turnovers.
 
Lamar took a six-point lead on a 3-pointer by Dontavious Sears with 10:31 remaining and still led by five at 27-22 with 7:38 left. Russell then exploded, scoring seven-straight points, capped by a three that put the Huskies up by two with 6:32 to go. The Cardinals got a short jumper by de Lattibeaudiere to tie it, 29-29, but Russell knocked down two free throws and layup by senior center Ricmonds Vilde and Smith put HBU ahead by six with just under four minutes to go.
 
After a free throw by Holliday cut Lamar's deficit to five, the Huskies outscored the Cardinals, 13-3 getting a dunk by Stetler, then an alley-oop from Stetler to Vilde and a three-point play by Russell to extend their lead to 15 with 48 seconds left and took a 48-35 lead into halftime.
 
HBU shot 57.7 percent and went 17-for-17 from the free throw line in the opening half, while Lamar shot 50 percent and went 5-for-7 from the stripe. Russell led the Huskies with 13 points at the break, while de Lattibeaudiere had 11 for the Cardinals.
 
Lamar outscored HBU 8-1 over the first 3:13 of the second half to quickly slice the Huskies lead to six. Leading by seven, HBU got back-to-back triples from junior guard Jourdan Stickler and Smith to once again lead by 13 with 11:23 remaining. The Cardinals trailed by 10 after Sears hit a pair of free throws with just under 10 minutes to go, but Russell answered with another trey to make the score, 65-52.
 
Trailing 66-54 after a free throw by Lasher, Lamar scored eight straight, the first four by de Lattibeaudiere and the next four by Holliday to get to within four with 5:52 left. Lasher buried a huge three to stop the run, but Gregory came back with a dunk on the other end. The Huskies led 71-64 after Odunsi sank a pair of free throws with 5:06 to go, but Holliday made a pair of free throws, a jumper, then de Lattibeaudiere made a pair from the line to draw the Cardinals within one at 71-70 with 2:56 on the clock.
 
Odunsi twice hit one-of-two from the line to put HBU back up by three, but Holliday hit a fadeaway jumper, then Lasher hit a pair of free throws, but Donovan Ross grabbed an offensive rebound for Lamar and laid it back in to make it a one-point game once again with 35 seconds to go. Odunsi put the Huskies up, 77-74, with a pair of free throws with 33 seconds left, then HBU forced a missed jumper by Ross, Stickler grabbed the rebound, was fouled and hit one-of-two for a four-point lead with 19 ticks left. Zjori Bosha missed a three for Lamar and Ibarra grabbed the rebound, which led to Lasher making one-of-two to ice the game. Holliday hit a three at the buzzer to provide the final margin.
 
As part of its 50^th Season celebration, HBU announced its 1980s All-Decade Team and wore 1980s replica throwback jerseys.
 
The Huskies will have a week of before returning to action against Sam Houston State Saturday at 4:30 p.m. in Huntsville, Texas. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN3.