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HOUSTON – The HBU men's basketball team was unable to overcome a hot-handed shooting performance from Incarnate Word in falling 97-91 on Monday night inside Sharp Gym.
 
UIW (14-11, 9-5 SLC) shot a season-best 62.5 percent (35-56) from the field and 92.5 percent (20-21) from the free throw line against the Huskies (16-12, 10-5 SLC). The shooting marks are both season-highs for HBU opponents.
 
Senior Anthony Odunsi led all, pouring in 25 points, his 11th 20-plus scoring performance of the season. The native of Sugar Land, Texas, finished 5-for-8 from the floor and tied his career-high with 15 made free throws to go along with a game-high eight assists.
 
Junior Colter Lasher joined Odunsi with 20-plus, netting a season-high 24 points. Lasher knocked down 10-of-13 from the field, including two 3-pointers, also adding two hits at the charity stripe.
 
Junior Cody Stetler scored a career-high 13 points, while senior Caleb Crayton added 10 off the bench.
 
HBU shot 52.7 percent (29-55) from the field, 31.6 percent (6-19) from the 3-point line and 75.0 percent (27-36) at the line, committing just nine turnovers.
 
Forwards Derail Green and Kyle Hittle led the Cardinal offense, putting up 23 and 20 points, respectfully. Overall, UIW had five players eclipse in double figures.
 
Both teams traded blows the majority of the first half, swapping the lead five times and pulling even on four occasions.
 
Down 29-25, Lasher pulled the Huskies back within one point with a hit from deep. Stetler, who was fouled on the play, then went to the line to and made good on his one-and-one opportunity with two makes to give the team a 30-29 advantage with 5:34 left before the break. However, the lead proved the be the last for HBU, as Walker gave the Cardinals back the advantage with a jumper on the ensuing possession and UIW outpaced the Huskies, 16-9, over the final four minutes to enter the lockerroom up 51-43.
 
The Cardinals opened the second half with two free throws to go up by double figures and led by as much as 13 points, before HBU made a run. Down 66-53 at 15:35 mark, Odunsi converted a three-point play to spark a 6-0 surge.
 
After a Hittle layup put UIW up 66-59 with 13:10 left, freshman Isaiah Robinson opened a 10-2 run for the Huskies over the next two minutes with a layup. Crayton caught fire and provide eight straight points with two 3-pointers and two free throws during the stretch, as HBU pulled within three points, 72-69.
 
The Huskies stayed within striking distance for the next five minutes until a layup Odunsi cut the deficit to one point, 79-78. However, an intentional foul called on the next possession sent the Cardinals to the line where they made all four attempts.
 
HBU's Odunsi (two free throws) and Lasher (layup) made one more push with four points to cut it back to a two-point difference, 85-83, but UIW quickly answered with two 3-pointer to quell the rally and later take the 97-91 final.
 
The Huskies will be back in action on Saturday, visiting conference-leader Stephen F. Austin in a 6 p.m. tip on ESPN3.

Postgame Quotes – Head Coach Ron Cottrell
Opening comments…
"We didn't show up to play defense tonight. If you shoot 52-53 percent on your home court, shoot 75 percent from the free throw line and only have nine turnovers, you usually are going to win the ballgame. However, when you give up 97 points, you don't have much of a chance. Incarnate Word shot the ball very well and we didn't do a good enough job of guarding. All credit to them. They did what they needed to do to win the game and we didn't."
 
On challenges of tonight…
"We just weren't stopping people, that's the bottom line."
 
On players of note…
"A lot of guys did some good things. I thought Colter (Lasher) did a good job of attacking and finishing at the rim. Caleb (Crayton) hit two big threes and played really hard defensively to give us a spark off the bench. Offensively, I don't have a whole lot of complaints. We just didn't do enough on the defensive end."