HOUSTON – HBU senior guard
Marcel Smith poured in a career-high 22 points, hitting a career-best six 3-pointers, and the Huskies held off Incarnate Word for a 78-77 overtime victory in the season finale of Southland Conference basketball Saturday night at Sharp Gym.
"It was a great night – a storybook ending, I couldn't ask for a better ending to my career regarding the situation," Smith said. "I am very happy on how tonight ended. Coming into this game, I just wanted to relax. More than anything I just wanted to get other people going. Once I got in rhythm though, I just felt like I couldn't be stopped."
Smith hit 8-of-16 from the floor and 6-for-7 from behind the arc and handed out two assists, while junior guard
Anthony Odunsi went 5-for-10 from the field and 7-of-10 from the line to finish with 18 points, four assists and three steals. Senior center
Ricmonds Vilde added 12 points and eight rebounds, while senior guard
Tyler Russell had 12 points. Freshman center
Josh Ibarra led the Huskies (12-16, 7-11 SLC) with 12 rebounds and blocked three shots.
"Obviously anytime you can win on senior night, it is great, because it sends those guys off on a fantastic note," head coach
Ron Cottrell said. "For those seniors (Smith, Russell, Vilde) to be a big part of the win was even better. To see them come through and really perform down the clutch in their last game in a HBU uniform was a lot of fun."
Denzel Livingston led the Cardinals (18-10, 10-8) with 21 points, but only hit 7-of-18 from the field and 6-of-9 from the line to go along with seven boards and four steals. Traylin Farris had 16 points, nine rebounds, four assists and three blocks. Shawn Johnson had 13 points and six rebounds, Kyle Hittle posted a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds and Mitchell Badillo had nine points and eight assists.
HBU shot 41.7 percent from the field, 9-for-19 from 3-point range, and 9-for-16 from the line, while UIW shot 43.9 percent, 3-for-11 from long distance, and 16-for-27 from the line. The Huskies were outrebounded for only the eighth time this season, 45-42.
In overtime, the Huskies took a 74-72 lead on a pair of free throws by Vilde with 1:04 left, then Farris made one of two with 38 ticks on the clock. The Cardinals stole the inbounds pass and Johnson laid it in to give them a one-point lead with 33 seconds to go. Vilde powered in for a layup to put HBU ahead w with 27 seconds remaining, but Farris drove in and hit a jumper off the glass to put UIW up 77-76 with 15 seconds left. Russell drove in the lane and laid it in with four seconds left and Badillo's short jumper at the buzzer hit off the side of the rim.
A pair of threes by Smith and one by Russell helped HBU jump out to a 15-8 lead with 13:11 to go in the first half. After UIW got back within four, a jumper by sophomore forward
Colter Lasher and a three by Odunsi pushed the Huskies lead to nine at the 8:05 mark. Smith buried three more triples and Russell hit one as part of a 19-4 run that put HBU up, 40-17, with 3:07 remaining. The Huskies took a 42-25 lead into halftime.
Smith drilled his last three of the game to open the second-half scoring and restore HBU's lead to 20, but UIW jumped back into the game with a 15-2 run to slice the deficit to 49-42 with 13:36 remaining. Vilde ended the spurt with a layup and Smith knocked down a jumper to keep the Huskies lead at nine, but Johnson and Livingston each sank a pair of free throws to get the Cardinals within five with 9:20 to go.
After a layup by Russell gave HBU a seven-point lead with 7:41 left, Badillo and Livingston hit back-to-back threes to get UIW within one. Odunsi hit a jumper, but a layup by Hittle and a dunk by Farris gave the Cardinals their first lead of the game, 62-61, with 5:20 to go. Odunsi hit one-of-two from the line to tie the game, then Smith hit a jumper to put the Huskies back up by two at the 4:27 mark. Livingston answered with a jumper, but sophomore forward
Reveal Chukwujekwu took a feed from junior guard
Jourdan Stickler for a layup with 2:53 remaining.
Livingston hit one-of-two with 1:32 left and again with 1:05 on the clock to tie the game, 66-66. The Cardinals had the ball with four seconds left in regulation, but Farris' shot was blocked by Ibarra to send the game into overtime.
The Huskies finished the season tied for eighth, winning five more games in conference play, and 10 six more overall. HBU loses Smith, Russell and Vilde, but return four of five starters.
"I think this season we established that we can compete very well in this league," Cottrell said. "We are somewhere in that group of middle programs that are all kind of fighting to get towards the top. To go from winning two conference games last year to seven this year, is a credit to our seniors, but I think it also sets us up very well for the group we return. The guys we have coming back will help us compete to be in the upper-tier when we get into league play. We want to be one of those teams that is in the race for a conference championship."
