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HUNTSVILLE, Texas – The HBU men's basketball team closed the second half with an improbable 30-5 run in the span of 5:17 on the game clock to force overtime but it was Sam Houston State that emerged with the 119-113 double-overtime win at the Johnson Coliseum on Saturday night.
 
Sam Houston State (19-9, 14-1 SLC) struck first and built a 19-10 lead behind 7-of-10 shooting to open the game but the Huskies (10-15, 6-8 SLC) worked their way back to 19-15 after a Benjamin Uloko old-fashioned three-point play at the 12:51 mark.
 
Senior Stephen O'Suji knocked down a three with 7:57 left in the half to break a three-plus minute scoring drought for the Huskies and make it a 28-23 ballgame. A Ty Dalton layup on the next HBU possession pulled the Huskies within three but the Bearkats closed the half by out-scoring the Huskies 23-7. SHSU shot 63.3 percent from the floor in the half and were 9-of-13 from beyond the arc.
 
In the second half, SHSU held the Huskies to at least a 16-point deficit for most of the period and led 90-65 after a Zaqwuan Mathews jumper with just 5:17 remaining in regulation. From there, HBU embarked on a 30-5 run to close the game with Oliver Lynch-Daniels scoring 12, Ian DuBose 10 and Dalton six during that stretch.
 
The Huskies cut it to one with 19 seconds left after a Lynch-Daniels layup but Cameron Delaney made both of his free throws a few seconds later to put the Bearkats back ahead by three. On the Huskies' next possession, DuBose knocked down a contested three from the corner with five seconds to go. Jackson Stent managed to steal the in-bound pass from the Bearkats and Lynch-Daniels had a look at a three at the buzzer that was just off target. The Huskies shot 67.6 percent (23-of-34) from the floor in the second half and forced SHSU into 12 turnovers, sending the game to overtime tied 95-95.
 
HBU came out in the first overtime and scored the first six points to lead 101-95 at the 3:21 mark after a Lynch-Daniels jumper. Cameron Delaney knocked down a three to cut the HBU lead to three but Dalton made a tip-in on the Huskies' next possession to go back up by five. Two Josh Delaney threes later and the game was tied 104-104 with 1:39 on the clock. The teams traded points with Josh Delaney sinking a pair of free throws with 25 seconds left to send it to a second overtime.
 
Lynch-Daniels opened the period with a pull-up jumper but the Bearkats got the next to bucket to go ahead, 113-110. Stent knocked down a shot for the Huskies to pull back within one but that was as close as HBU would get the rest of the way.
 
Lynch-Daniels led the Huskies with a career-high 24 points on 10-of-21 shooting from the floor, including 4-of-10 from three, while also adding six rebounds off the bench. DuBose finished with 23 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals while Dalton matched his career-best with 21 points and pulled down six rebounds. Braxton Bonds ended the night with 10 points, eight assists, six rebounds and three steals.
 
Josh Delaney led all player with 30 points and had seven assists for the Bearkats. HBU out-rebounded SHSU 51-37 with 22 of those rebounds coming on the offensive end. The Huskies also forced the Bearkats into 20 turnovers while committing 16 which, combined with the offensive rebounds, led to HBU taking 15 more shots in the game than SHSU.
 
The Huskies shot 48.2 percent (41-of-85) from the floor while the Bearkats knocked down 58.6 percent (41-of-70) from the field and 60 percent (18-of-30) from three.
 
HBU will head to Beaumont, Texas for its next matchup, a rematch against a red-hot Lamar squad that has won five-straight games. The Huskies downed the Cardinals earlier this year in a thrilling 88-82 overtime conference opener in Sharp Gym on Jan. 2.