CONWAY, Ark. – The HBU men's basketball team maintained their pace atop the Southland Conference standings and picked up their seventh straight victory in 72-61 decision at Central Arkansas on Tuesday night inside Farris Center.
Senior
Anthony Odunsi led the way for the Huskies (11-7, 6-0 SLC), posting 20 points and eight assists. The native of Sugar Land, Texas, continued his hot shooting at the free throw line, netting 11 of his 13 attempts. Odunsi was also 4-for-8 from the field with a made 3-pointer. He amassed 11 points and five assists in the second half against UCA (2-13, 1-4 SLC).
Sophomore
Josh Ibarra recorded 13 points, with 11 coming in the second half. Ibarra finished 5-for-6 at the basket and 3-for-4 at the charity stripe, while junior
Cody Stetler finished with eight points. Junior
Reveal Chukwujekwu posted a team-best six rebounds.
HBU shot 47.7 percent (21-44) from the field and 75.8 percent (25-33) at the line. After taking just seven free throws in the first half, the Huskies went 20-for-26 from the stripe over the final 20 minutes.
HBU held the Bears to a 31.7 percentage (20-63) from the field and 27.3 mark (6-22) from beyond the arc. In the second half, UCA made just one of the team's 13 3-point attempts.
Both teams combined to go 0-for-5 with two turnovers across opening two-plus minutes, before the Bears got the first points of the game with a 3-pointer at the 17:45 mark from sophomore Jordan Howard, who hit four shots from distance in the first half and led all with 27 points overall. However, Ibarra quickly followed with a layup in the team's next possession to get the Huskies on the board, as neither team led by more than four points and traded the lead 11 times in the period.
Down 13-12 at 11:04, freshman
Isaiah Robinson put HBU back on top with a two-handed flush heading into the under-12 media break. Out of the timeout, the Bears went on a 5-0 surge over the next 1:54 to take a four-point advantage, the largest of the half, at 18-14. Not to be outdone though, the Huskies responded with a 6-0 burst, highlighted by a 3-pointer from junior
Alex Fountain and layup from Stetler to pull ahead, 20-18, as play remained close.
Down 28-26 with 1:20 remaining, Odunsi closed the half with four of his nine first-half points, coming on a pair of free throws and a jumper, to enter the lockerroom up 30-28 at the break.
The Huskies and UCA continued to trade points for the first part the second half. Down 43-40 with just under 12 minutes to play, freshman
Asa Cantwell sparked a 12-0 run with a 3-pointer, as HBU surged out front. The Huskies continued to flow and led by as much as 15 points down the stretch to secure the team's first win at UCA.
HBU will close its three-game road swing on Saturday visiting Lamar in a 4:30 p.m. tip on
ESPN3.
Postgame Quotes – Head Coach Ron Cottrell
Opening comments…"Tonight we got stops, which was huge, because our offense was just not at the level it usually has been. In the second half, we were finally able to get going and put it away there late, but it was certainly a struggle to get to that point. "I'll take a win, especially a road win, but we have to get better and not get complacent. Anybody in this league is capable of beating you and it only gets harder going forward. I am very proud of these guys though and what they have accomplished." On Cody Stetler…"How about Cody (Stetler). He comes in after being out for two months and goes 3-for-3 from the field and gives us eight points in some terrific minutes. I am so happy for him and what he did. He was one of the guys who stepped up tonight when he needed it." On upcoming game at Lamar…"Lamar is a tough opponent and we have to go to their place on Saturday. We are 6-0 in conference and I am excited for the guys to be in this position, but we understand that we are only a third of the way through conference. We need to keep working."
