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Buy Photos HereHOUSTON – HBU's
Ron Cottrell picked up his 450th win as head coach in a 79-78 thriller over Lamar on Monday night inside Sharp Gym.
Holding a one-point edge with nine seconds remaining, Lamar (10-15, 2-11 SLC) drove the court for an attempted last-second shot. However, junior
Colter Lasher poked away the ball from Cardinal guard Kevin Booze, who finished with 17 points, with a stellar defensive effort and dribbled out the clock to give the Huskies (15-11, 9-4 SLC) their first victory since Jan. 30, snapping a four-game losing streak.
HBU used a balanced scoring effort to hold off a resurgent Cardinal squad that forced the late rally after trailing by eight points with 43 seconds left. The Huskies placed four in double figures, led by senior
Anthony Odunsi who recorded a game-high 18 points. The native of Sugar Land, Texas, finished 6-for-10 from the field with a 3-pointer and 5-for-7 at the free throw line. Odunsi also led HBU with eight rebounds, five assists and three steals.
Senior
Jourdan Stickler finished one point short of Odunsi's total with 17, splashing the net with five makes from beyond the arc as part of a 6-for-10 shooting performance.
Juniors
Colter Lasher and
Reveal Chukwujekwu each netted 10 points, while freshman
Asa Cantwell added eight off the bench. Freshman
Isaiah Robinson finished with three blocks.
Odunsi (5), Lasher (4), and Chukwujekwu (4) combined for 13 of the team's 17 assists.
The Huskies shot 54.0 percent (27-50) from the field, 40.0 percent (8-20) from deep and a 73.9 percent (17-23) at the line. Lamar, despite taking 20 more shots from the floor, turned in a 45.7 field goal percentage (32-70).
Stickler proved to be the catalyst for HBU to open the game, hitting his first three 3-point attempts with the last two coming as part of a 15-0 run that gave the Huskies an 18-6 advantage after the first seven minutes of play. However, the Cardinals outscored HBU 14-5 over the next 4:15 to pull within three, 23-20. Cantwell (3-pointer) and junior
Alex Fountain (jumper) quickly pushed it back to an eight-point game, as the Huskies eventually took a 40-32 lead into the break.
Lamar hit its first two shots to open the second half and quickly cut the deficit to one point, 43-42, at the 16:42 mark. HBU bounced back though, with Lasher completing a three-point play in the ensuing possession as the team slowly rebuilt their lead.
Trailing 59-49 with 10:14 remaining, the Cardinals cut it to a one-point game on two occasions down the stretch and had the ball with eight second left with a shot at the upset, before Lasher's steal sealed the victory for the Huskies and their first sweep of Lamar since the 1975-76 season.
HBU will play its second of three straight home games on Tuesday, hosting Abilene Christian in a 7 p.m. tip.
Postgame Quotes – Head Coach Ron Cottrell
Opening comments…"It was a really tough win tonight. Lamar really put pressure on us and turned us over. They are as good of a two-win conference team as I have seen in a very long time. They are aggressive and have guys who can really score. I was very impressed with the way they played tonight, especially given where they are in a tough season for them." On weathering lulls in the game …"We just never could get in sync. There were a couple times where we you'd think that this is where we can push the game open, but then they'd cut it back to one or two possessions." On Jourdan Stickler's performance…"Thank goodness for his hot start. He really got us going early and gave us a cushion. He reacted very well to the situation and was a leader for us tonight." NOTE: The HBU men's basketball coaching and support staffs wore black ribbons in memoriam for the passing of Eddie Brown, the program's all-time leading scorer. The players also wore warmups that bore Brown's last name and HBU playing number, 22, and a moment of silence in recognition of his passing took place before the game.
