GREENSBORO, N.C. – The HBU men's basketball team closed the 2015-16 season with a 69-65 loss at UNC-Greensboro in the 2016 College Basketball Invitational (CBI) first round on Wednesday night inside Greensboro Coliseum.
The Huskies finish with a 17-17 overall record, the first .500 season for the program since transitioning back to NCAA Division I level status prior to the 2007-08 season. The loss marks the second Division I postseason appearance for the program and the final game for seniors
Caleb Crayton,
Anthony Odunsi and
Jourdan Stickler.
Odunsi led HBU against the Spartans (15-18), posting his third double-double of the season. The native of Sugar Land, Texas, collected 12 points and tied his career-high with 11 rebounds. Odunsi, who finished 2-for-9 from the field with a 3-pointer, shot 7-of-8 from the free throw line and grabbed nine boards on the defensive end.
Junior
Colter Lasher joined Odunsi with 12 points, shooting 4-for-8 with two threes and a pair of free throws, while Stickler netted 10.
The Huskies shot 37.1 percent (23-62) from the field, 42.1 percent (8-19) from the 3-point line and 84.6 percent (11-13) at the line.
Stickler connected on the first shot of the game, as HBU jumped out to a 9-4 lead over the opening 4:48. However, UNCG's Demetrius Troy hit a three on the ensuing possession and the Spartans stayed within four points until another trey later gave them the edge, 21-20, with 7:35 left in the half.
After a pair of free throws from junior
Alex Fountain put the Huskies back up by one, UNCG connected on its next two shots, including a trey from Francis Alonso, who led all with 17 points, to take a 26-22 advantage at the 6:29 mark.
A 5-0 surge from Lasher cut the deficit to one point, before Odunsi knocked down two free throws to put HBU on top, 29-28. Both teams played even, 10-10, over the final five minutes to give the Huskies a 39-38 advantage heading into the lockerroom.
The Spartans opened the second half with a jumper from RJ White, but HBU quickly responded with a dunk from Lasher to reclaim the mark.
Tied 45-all, the Huskies got buckets from freshman
Isaiah Robinson, Stickler and sophomore
Stephen O'Suji, to hold a 51-45 advantage with 12 minutes to go. However, UNCG went on a 20-2 run, holding HBU to just one made basket, over the next 6:23.
The Huskies made one more push, using an 8-0 run to cut it to a three-point game, 65-62, with 2:14 remaining, but ultimately fell 69-65.
Postgame Quotes – Head Coach Ron Cottrell
Opening comments…"We would've loved to have continued the season, for the seniors in particular. I wanted them to experience college basketball for as long as they could, before hanging up their uniforms. It was a tough lockerroom knowing it was their last game. "I thought we played well at times. I thought we played pretty well defensively and really came out and played well in the first half. We had a chance to open it, leading by seven in the first half, but just couldn't extend it. They got back into the game and we had a drought there in the second half." On scoring drought…"Credit it to them. They changed their defense and it took us some time to get adjusted. It wasn't anything we hadn't seen before, we just couldn't get quite going again. We put Asa (Cantwell) in and he hit a three for us, but overall we just couldn't get back in rhythm. We cut it to three points there at the end, but they came right back at us." On seniors…"I talked to the team in the lockerroom postgame quite a bit about the seniors and what they've contributed. Certainly Anthony (Odunsi) and Jourdan (Stickler) have been a big part of the strides we've made the last two years, but Caleb (Crayton) is a four-year guy for us. He's been a part of quite a bit and helped us make the transition into the Southland Conference. He gave us everything he had and continued to fight through adversity, even with injuries, and he never slowed down. I'm so proud of him and three seniors for what they've accomplished."
