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JERSEY CITY, N.J. – The HBU men's basketball team took a three-point lead with just over three minutes remaining but Saint Peter's came back to down the Huskies, 76-74, on Wednesday evening at the Yanitelli Center.
 
A Josh Ibarra tip-in with 13:41 on the clock put HBU (3-6) up 6-2 but the Peacocks (4-4) used a 16-2 run capped by a pair of Nnamdi Enechionyia free throws to lead 17-8 four and a half minutes later. A Nick Griffin three-pointer at the 8:36 mark gave Saint Peter's its largest lead of the half, 20-10, but a four-point play by Jalon Gates on a three from five feet behind the arc and the subsequent free throw tied things up at 30-30. A minute later, Gates was fouled on a three and connected on all three from the charity stripe to give the Huskies a three-point lead with 1:38 remaining in the half. The Peacocks scored the final five points in the first period to lead 37-35 at the half.
 
David Caraher hit a pair of free throws at the 13:42 mark to put the Huskies ahead for the first time in the second half but a four minutes scoreless drought left HBU trailing 53-47 with 10 to play. Saint Peter's pushed its lead as high as seven but Caraher nailed a three with 5:15 on the clock to tie things at 65-65. An Ibarra layup with 3:07 to go put HBU ahead 72-69 but the Peacocks came back to lead by one with 1:10 left and a Samuel Idowu three with 12 seconds remaining made it a 76-72 ballgame. Caraher put in a layup with one second to go for the 76-74 final.
 
Ibarra, who had a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds at the half, reached 17 rebounds for the second-consecutive game and finished the night with a game-high 26 points to go along with three blocked shots and three assists. The senior pulled down 11 rebounds on the offensive end, was 10-of-20 from the floor and 6-of-8 from the free throw line.
 
Caraher added a career-best 21 points on 6-of-14 shooting, 4-of-7 from three and a perfect 5-of-5 at the stripe, while also pulling down five boards. Jalon Gates finished with 11 points while Ian DuBose had eight. DuBose and Braxton Bonds both also had five rebounds.
 
As a team, the Huskies out-rebounded the Peacocks 38-29 and took advantage of 21 offensive boards for 25 second chance points. HBU shot 40 percent (26-of-65) for the game and connected on 36.8 percent (7-of-19) from three-point range. The Peacocks connected on 25-of-50 from the floor and hit 47.6 percent (10-of-21) from beyond the arc.
 
The game saw seven lead changes and the scored tied on 10 occasions.
 
HBU heads to San Antonio, Texas next for a Saturday, Dec. 9, matchup with the Roadrunners of UTSA with tip-off set for 7:00 p.m. at the UTSA Convocation Center.