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Buy Photos HereHOUSTON – The HBU men's basketball team guaranteed no worse the a .500 season and secured a spot in the upcoming Southland Conference Tournament in a 73-71 victory over Abilene Christian on Thursday night inside Sharp Gym.
The Huskies (16-11, 10-4 SLC) battled ACU (11-15, 6-7 SLC) back and forth all night and sat knotted up at 63-all with 1:28 left in the second half. Senior
Caleb Crayton broke the tie with a layup on the ensuing possession and senior
Anthony Odunsi went a perfect 8-for-8 at the free throw line over the final 49 seconds to secure the victory.
Odunsi led all with 21 points, his 10th 20-plus scoring performance of the season, and nine rebounds. The native of Sugar Land, Texas, shot 5-for-11 from the field and 11-for-14 at the charity stripe. Odunsi delivered 17 points in the second half, including all 11 of his made free throws.
Senior
Jourdan Stickler established the perimeter, posting a game-high four hits from deep for 12 points, while junior
Reveal Chukwujekwu finished with 10 points, turning in an efficient 4-for-5 showing from the floor.
Freshman
Isaiah Robinson, making his first career start, totaled six points, six blocks and four rebounds. Robinson's six denials, one off his career-high, is tied for the fourth highest single-game total in program history.
HBU shot 52.1 percent (25-48) from the field, 75.0 percent (6-8) from the 3-point line and 63.0 percent (17-27) at the line. The Wildcats, paced by Jalen Franklin's and Duran Porter's 15 points each, shot 49.1 percent (27-55) from the floor, 50.0 percent (6-12) from deep and 64.7 percent (11-17) at the stripe.
Trailing 4-2 after the opening two minutes, the Huskies used a 9-0 surge over the next 3:30 to jump out front, 11-4. However, ACU responded with a 9-0 run of its own to reclaim the edge, 13-11, at the 11:41 mark.
Both teams traded baskets, before a Stickler 3-pointed gave HBU back the advantage at 18-17 with 6:11 left in the first half. The Huskies built the lead to as high as seven points, 28-21, and entered the lockerroom up 31-26 at the half.
HBU outscored the Wildcats 11-5 over the first 4:31 of the second half to take an 11-point advantage, 42-31, the largest of the game.
ACU chippped away at the lead over the next 12-plus minutes and tied the game at 61-61 on a dunk from Franklin with 2:14 remaining. Odunsi responded with a made jumped on the ensuing possession, before Franklin followed with a layup to pull the score back even, 63-63.
The Huskies will close their three-game homestand with a 7 p.m. tip against Incarnate Word on Monday.
Postgame Quotes – Head Coach Ron CottrellOpening comments…"Abilene Christian is a really pesky team with the ability to hang in games and cause people trouble. They are a good offensive team and that makes them hard to put away. I was very pleased with how we handled Parker Wentz (six points) and kept him in control a lot better than we did when we played up at ACU. I also thought we did a good job on Jaylen Franklin and some of their other guys as well. Isaiah (Robinson) certainly created a presence for us inside with six blocks tonight. "I am happy with the way we continued to fight. We know we didn't play as well as we would've liked to, but I will certainly take this one." On Jourdan Stickler's 3-point shooting…"Early in our previous game, he really got us going with three 3-pointers early in the first half that lit us up and got us excited. Tonight, he was a spark for us late. He is a player that just rides the wave. He is a confidence player and when he's on a roll, he's on a roll. He is an asset for us. It's good to have shooters like him." On significance of the win…"Every win is so important for us, because we are playing for seeding in the upcoming conference tournament. We want to be as high a seed as we can. The top four teams get one bye and the top two get two, so these games matter."
