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NEW ORLEANS, La. – HBU men's basketball trailed 36-21 at the half after shooting below 25 percent in the first period but fought its way back send the game to overtime but dropped a physical Southland Conference game, 81-76, on the road to New Orleans at Lakefront Arena on Saturday afternoon.
The Privateers (6-7, 1-1 SLC) opened the game with a 6-0 run but HBU (5-8, 1-1 SLC) answered with the next six to even things up at the 13:45 mark. From there, over a four minute, 20 second stretch, UNO connected on 7-of-9 from the floor to take a 21-12 lead after a Bryson Robinson jumper with 8:17 left in the half. New Orleans pushed its lead in the first half as high as 17, holding a 36-19 advantage with 1:08 to go before the Huskies went into the half trailing 36-21.
In the second half, the Huskies opened with a 14-5 run with
Philip McKenzie connecting on six early points and HBU down 41-35 less than five and a half minutes in. With 12:56 on the clock, an
Ian DuBose layup again pulled the Huskies within six, 45-39. UNO's Bryson Robinson made a layup with 7:21 to go to put the Privateers ahead 55-43 but the Huskies responded with a six-point run capped by an alley-oop dunk by DuBose from
Oliver Lynch-Daniels to trail by six.
UNO scored next to go back ahead by eight but a pair of DuBose free throws and a layup made it 57-53 with 4:14 remaining. DuBose came up with a steal on the next possession, setting up McKenzie for a pair of free throws to cut it to two. After a defensive stop, DuBose found Lynch-Daniels in the corner for the team's first made three of the game at the 2:55 mark to give HBU a 58-57 lead, its first of the game.
Ezekiel Charles answered for the Privateers, nailing his third trey of the game with 1:19 to go and putting UNO up by two, 60-58. McKenzie then drew a foul with 1:04 on the clock and made both of his free throws to even the score. The Huskies forced a turnover on the next UNO possession but turned it over themselves on their end. With just a second separating the game and shot clocks, UNO's Robinson was called for an offensive foul with 17 seconds on the clock, giving HBU the final possession of regulation. DuBose put up a mid-range jump with a second on the clock that rimmed in and out at the buzzer, leaving the teams tied, 60-60, and heading to overtime.
HBU scored the first four points of overtime but the Privateers responded with Damion Rosser making a layup and Robinson hitting a three from the corner. Leading by one, UNO then got a pair of free throws from Gerrale Gates to go ahead, 67-64. With 1:04 left in overtime, Rosser made a layup to make it 73-66 in UNO's favor but DuBose responded with a long three to cut the deficit to four, 73-69 with 55 second left. An and-one from DuBose with 24 seconds on the clock brought the Huskies within three, 77-74, but the Privateers connected on their free throws the rest of the way to keep HBU at bay.
DuBose led all players with 22 points, shooting 8-of-22 from the floor and a perfect 5-of-5 from the charity stripe, while adding six rebounds.
Edward Hardt set a new career-best on the boards, pulling down 14 rebounds while also scoring 11 points for his second double-double of the season. Lynch-Daniels was 7-of-12 from the field for 17 points while McKenzie had 16 points and eight rebounds. Senior
Braxton Bonds matched his career-high in steals, with six, giving him 11 in two Southland Conference games this season.
As a team, HBU responded from the rough first half shooting the ball to shoot 48.1 percent in the second half and 66.7 percent in overtime but struggled from distance, making just 2-of-18 from behind the arc. Both teams made their free throws as the Huskies shot 90 percent (18-of-20) and New Orleans made 12-of-14 (85.7 percent). HBU held a 46-38 advantage on the boards with 22 of HBU's rebounds coming on the offensive end.
The Huskies will be off this Wednesday, Jan. 9, while the rest of the conference plays and resume play on Saturday, Jan. 12, with a visit to Thibodaux, La. for an afternoon matchup with the Nicholls Colonels.
