TULSA, Okla. – HBU men's basketball led for more than 22 minutes in the season-opener against Tulsa but the Golden Hurricane used an 11-point run midway through the second half to take the lead for good as the Huskies fell, 80-72, on Tuesday afternoon inside the Reynolds Center.
The Huskies (0-1) led for more than 18 minutes of the first half, gaining small leads early before a pair of back-to-back threes from
Jalon Gates and
Jackson Stent put them ahead 13-7 with 13:48 left in the half. HBU held on to the lead and pushed it as high eight on a pair of occasions, including with 3:32 on the clock after a pair of
Ian DuBose free throws. Tulsa (1-0) bounced back and went on a 13-2 run, in large part thanks to four HBU turnovers, to close the half with Jeriah Horne and Isaiah Hill accounting for 12 of those points and send the teams into the locker rooms with the Huskies trailing 41-38.
To start the second half, DuBose opened things up with a layup and then, after a Tulsa basket, helped key a six-point burst with three free throws along with a
Myles Pierre trey to lead 48-43 just over four minutes in. Consecutive baskets from Gates put the Huskies ahead 53-47 for their largest lead in the half as Tulsa went on an 11-point run to go ahead by five with 9:28 left in the game.
Ty Dalton answered with a layup to get HBU back within three but the Golden Hurricane pushed it to double-digits for a five-plus minute stretch to hold off the Huskies.
DuBose finished the day with a double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds, five of those on the offensive end, and added three assists. Gates added 16 points for the Huskies while Pierre,
Qon Murphy and Stent all had seven. Dalton finished with six points, eight boards, five assists and three steals.
The two teams were even on the glass with both sides pulling down 40 rebounds. 16 of HBU's rebounds came on the offensive end, leading to 12 second chance points. Tulsa did the majority of its damage in the paint, scoring 48 of 80 total points from close range. The Huskies knocked down nine three-pointers to Tulsa's three.
Tulsa's Jeriah Horne led all players with 22 points while Martins Igbanu added 16 and Brandon Rachal scored 12 to go along with 10 rebounds.
The Huskies will stay in Tulsa for their next game, a matchup with Oral Roberts on Friday, Nov. 8, inside the Mabee Center with a 7:30 p.m. tip-off.
