NEW ORLEANS – Senior
Anthony Odunsi scored a career-high 28 points, as the HBU men's basketball team held on for a 73-69 victory at New Orleans on Saturday night inside Lakefront Arena.
Down 63-60 with three minutes left, the Huskies (10-7, 5-0 SLC) closed the game on a 13-6 surge, hitting 10 free throws down the stretch and getting a crucial 3-pointer from junior
Reveal Chukwujekwu to take over sole possession of the Southland Conference leaderboard with Sam Houston State's 72-68 loss at McNeese State earlier in the evening.
Odunsi, who poured in 25 of his 28 points in the second half, did the most of his damage against UNO (5-10, 1-3 SLC) at the free throw line, tying his career-high with 15 makes, including scoring the final two points for HBU with four seconds left to keep the game in hand. The native of Sugar Land, Texas, also finished 6-for-8 from the field with a connection from beyond the arc.
Junior
Colter Lasher and Chukwujekwu joined Odunsi in double figures, recording 10 and 14 points, respectfully. Chukwujekwu finished 4-for-8 from the floor with a 3-pointer and 5-for-6 at the line to go along with five rebounds, while Lasher finished 5-for-9 from the floor and pulled down six boards.
Junior
Josh Ibarra led all at the glass, pulling down 13 rebounds with 10 coming on the defensive end.
The Huskies shot 41.5 percent (22-53) from the field and 78.8 percent (26-33) at the charity stripe. The Privateers shot 56.3 percent from the line, the second lowest for an opponent both this season and coming on their home court.
Both teams combined to trade the lead 15 times, pulling even on 18 occasions, as neither led by more than seven points across the entire contest.
The Huskies, winners of six straight, will play their second of three consecutive games on the road on Tuesday, visiting Central Arkansas in a 7 p.m. tip.
Postgame Quotes – Head Coach Ron Cottrell
Opening comments…"We knew this was going to be a very physical battle coming in here tonight, but the guys really did a good job of stepping up to that challenge. I'm really proud of the fact that, while it wasn't the prettiest game in the world, we were able to finish plays when we needed to. "Anthony (Odunsi)'s performance at the free throw line, handling the pressure and being able to knock down shots, was big. Reveal (Chukwujekwu)'s 3-pointer there with two minutes left was huge as well." On team's free throw shooting…"We shot much better at the free throw line than we did last game and that was something we talked about coming into tonight. We were able to shoot over 78 percent tonight." On playing at New Orleans…"This is a tough place to play. New Orleans is a very physical and aggressive team and their crowd fed off that. The crowd was loud and in the moment all game. I am very proud of our guys for being able to come in here and get the win." On upcoming game at Central Arkansas…"Central Arkansas will be a tough matchup for us coming up. They are such a potent offensive team that can really score the ball. We have to be able to play our best defense and be ready on Tuesday."
