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THIBODAUX, La. – Senior Edward Hardt had the most prolific scoring game of his career but it wasn't quite enough as the HBU men's basketball team suffered a heartbreaking Southland Conference loss on the road at Stopher Gymnasium on Saturday, falling 77-76 to Nicholls on a game-winner with just three seconds to go.
 
HBU (5-9, 1-2 SLC) opened things by scoring the first nine points of the game and building a 9-0 lead in the first 2:58 of game action. Nicholls (10-7, 3-1 SLC) got on the board thanks to a Brandon Moore layup at the 16:32 mark but the Huskies were able to push their lead to 16-5 after an Oliver Lynch-Daniels jumper just past the five minute mark into the half. HBU made seven of its first eight field goal attempts in the game.
 
The HBU lead reached 23-13 after a Benjamin Uloko layup but the Colonels answered with a six-point run to get to within four with 10:09 left in the half. From there, both teams traded buckets with a pair of layups from Edward Hardt for the Huskies while Nicholls nailed a pair of threes to bring the score to 27-25 with 8:25 on the clock.
 
Nicholls' Jeremiah Jefferson evened the score at 31-31 with 4:40 left in the half on a layup but Ian DuBose responded with a three on the Huskies' ensuing possession followed by a layup from Uloko and one from DuBose for a six-point swing the Huskies' way for a 37-31 lead. HBU then took a 39-35 lead into the half.
 
In the second half, the Huskies again started strong with an 8-2 run to build their lead back to 10, 47-37, less than three minutes in. After a Braxton Bonds layup gave HBU a 52-41 lead, Nicholls went on a 12-2 run to pull within one, 54-53 with 10:57 to play. A minute and a half later, with HBU up by two, Jefferson knocked down a three to put the Colonels ahead for the first time in the game, 57-56.
 
With Nicholls leading 59-56, Bonds knocked down a three with 8:31 to go to even things up but Nicholls regained the lead with a Ryghe Lyons layup. The Colonels held the lead until a Hardt free throw with 3:46 on the clock made it a 65-65 game.
 
From there, the game saw multiple lead changes with neither team leading by more than three. Nicholls went ahead 75-72 on a Brandon Moore three with 1:05 remaining with Philip McKenzie cutting the Husky deficit to two with a free throw. With 12 seconds left on the clock, DuBose made a layup in traffic, drawing a foul, and then made the ensuing free throw to put the Huskies ahead by one. The Colonels' Kevin Johnson then drove and banked in an off-balance shot with three seconds on the clock to secure the win for Nicholls.
 
Hardt finished the day 9-of-12 from the floor and 11-of-15 from the charity stripe to lead all players with a career-best 29 points. DuBose ended the game with 17 points, six rebounds and five assists while shooting 6-of-12 from the field.
 
Bonds just missed out on a double-double, totaling 10 rebounds to go with nine points while also recording a pair of steals. As a team, HBU shot 47.5 percent (28-of-59) for the game but was just 23.1 percent (3-of-13) from three-point range. Nicholls, meanwhile, was 31-of-62 (50 percent) from the floor and 41.7 percent (10-of-24) from beyond the arc. Both teams had a rough day at the charity stripe with HBU shooting 58.6 percent (17-of-29) and Nicholls making just 50 percent (5-of-10). HBU out-rebounded the Colonels 42-to-28, with 16 of those coming on the offensive end.
 
HBU closes out its longest road stretch of the season on Wednesday, Jan. 16, in Abilene, Texas with the Huskies' lone matchup against Abilene Christian this season at 7:00 p.m.