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HUNTSVILLE, Texas – In the opening Southland Conference game of the season, the HBU men's basketball team rode a big second half to a comfortable 79-65 win over Sam Houston State at the Johnson Coliseum on Thursday night.
 
The Huskies (5-6, 1-0 SLC) got out to an early 8-6 lead but an 8-2 spurt capped by a Dakarai Henderson three-pointer put Sam Houston State (9-5, 0-1 SLC) ahead 16-10 less than eight minutes into the game. Reveal Chukwujekwu answered with a three of his own to bring the HBU deficit back down to three. The Bearkats maintained a lead the rest of the half, pushing it as high as eight, 29-21, with 2:13 left to play but the Huskies pulled to within three after a Colter Lasher three and a Jalon Gates fast break layup off a steal. SHSU took a 30-26 lead into the half.
 
HBU came out in the second half and quickly regained the lead on a Josh Ibarra free throw just 2:13 into the half, followed by another Lasher three. The Huskies built their lead to 52-42 after a pair of Alex Fountain free throws with 11:29 to go and led by double-digits the rest of the way. HBU's lead got as high as 17 with just 2:16 to play but the Bearkats fought back to within 10 thanks to an Albert Almanza three with 40 seconds on the clock. The Huskies kept SHSU at bay over the final 40 seconds thanks to solid shooting from the charity stripe, connecting on 6-6 in the final 30 seconds.
 
After committing 18 turnovers in the first half, the Huskies took care of the ball in the second stanza with just seven turnovers to limit SHSU to just eight points off turnovers compared to 23 in the first half. HBU held a 38-22 advantage on the boards and included 16 second chance points among their 79.
 
Lasher led all players with 22 points on 7-11 shooting, including 4-6 from deep and 4-4 at the charity stripe, and added a pair of blocks and three rebounds. Chukwujekwu poured in 16 and added 10 rebounds for his second double-double in the last three games. He was 5-7 from the floor and a perfect 2-2 from three. Sophomore Braxton Bonds added a career-high 13 for the Huskies, pulled down five rebounds and had three assists while Jalen Weber led HBU with four assists.
 
HBU shot higher than 50 percent from both the floor and from three-point range for the first time this season and for their best three-point shooting game of the year. The Huskies connected on 79.4 percent from the charity stripe, compared to the Bearkats 52.6 percent, and held SHSU to just 14.3 percent from beyond the arc.
 
HBU continues Southland Conference competition on the road with a New Year's Eve game at Stephen F. Austin in Nacogdoches with a 4:00 p.m. tip-off.