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KATY, Texas – The fourth-seeded HBU men's basketball team was eliminated from the 2016 Southland Conference Tournament, falling 104-68 to top-seeded Stephen F. Austin in the semifinals on Friday night inside Merrell Center.
 
Senior Caleb Crayton paced the Huskies (17-16), turning in a season-high 20 points. The Oklahoma City native finished 7-for-9 from the field with a career-high four hits from 3-point land.
 
Freshman Asa Cantwell finished with 12 points, connecting on three treys, while senior Anthony Odunsi followed with 11. Junior Colter Lasher and freshman Isaiah Robinson each pulled down five rebounds against the Lumberjacks (26-5).
 
HBU shot 43.1 percent (22-51) from the field, 40.0 percent (8-20) from the 3-point line and 72.7 percent (16-22) at the line.
 
After SFA opened the game on a 9-0 run, Crayton got the Huskies going with a 3-pointer at the 17:40 mark.
 
HBU slowed chipped away at the lead, until Cantwell splashed one from distance to pull the team within two points of the 'Jacks, 20-18. Following two free throws from SFA's Trey Pinkney, Cantwell completed a three-point play to cut the deficit to one, 22-21, with 9:12 left in the half. However, the 'Jacks outscored the Huskies 32-11 over the final nine minutes to take a 54-32 lead into the break.
 
SFA led wire-to-wire in the second half to claim the 104-68 final and advance to the league's tournament championship game.
 
HBU, with a 17-win season, will await to see if it will receive a postseason invite.
 
Postgame Quotes – Head Coach Ron Cottrell
Opening comments…
"I thought our guys came out early on and stepped up to the intensity of the game. They played really well. The thing that changed the tone was rebounding and (Stephen F. Austin) did a really good job of getting inside and creating opportunities. They had nine offensive rebounds at the half to our one.
 
"We shot the ball well. What I would like to say most of all is I'm proud of how our team fought and never backed down, and we really talked about that throughout our preparations. I think we belong here and our guys did an amazing job of playing the whole game."
 
On playing hard throughout the game…
"That's the nature of our team. This is a team that when we played SFA at home, it was a one-point game with seconds to go. This team can play with those guys. This team belongs in the upper half of this league. This team is a team that, I believe, proved throughout the year that we have something going right now."
 
On seniors…
"I'm really proud of our seniors. If you think about it, two years ago we finished 13th in the Southland. Last year we were seventh, this year we were the No. 4 seed in the tournament and made the semifinals. I think that is pretty good progress for these guys. They should be very proud of we've been able to accomplish and we hope our season isn't quite over. We don't want the season to end today and close the books for our seniors."