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HOUSTON – HBU led for more than 30 minutes of the game but Stephen F. Austin used a late run to slip past the Huskies, 79-77, in Southland Conference men's basketball action on Wednesday evening inside Sharp Gym.
 
It was SFA (12-9, 5-4 SLC) that jumped out to a quick lead with the Lumberjacks connecting on their first three attempts of the game for a 6-0 advantage in less than a minute and a half of gameplay. The Huskies (7-14, 3-7 SLC) then came alive and put together a 13-2 run capped by an Ian DuBose three-pointer at the 13:47 mark for a 13-8 lead.
 
SFA worked its way back to within one, 15-14, after a pair of Nathan Bain free throws close to the halfway point of the first period but less than three minutes later HBU's Benjamin Uloko knocked down a jumper to push the Husky lead back up to six, 24-18. The Lumberjacks again answered and back-to-back buckets from Kevon Harris gave SFA a 33-32 lead with 4:31 left in the half.
 
With 2:54 on the clock, Bain put SFA ahead by two with a dunk but DuBose answered on HBU's next possession and with 1:36 left, Stephen O'Suji put the Huskies ahead by three with a layup and the ensuing foul shot for the and-one. Harris hit a three with 51 seconds showing to tie it back up but Jalon Gates came right back with a trey before Shannon Bogues made one of two free throws to send it into the half with the Huskies leading 41-39.
 
Less than three minutes into the second half, SFA took a one-point lead, 44-43, after a Bogues and-one. Over the next 1:53 of game time the Huskies poured it on with a 13-0 run, including six points from O'Suji, to lead 56-44 with just over 15 minutes to go in the game.
 
The Lumberjacks whittled the HBU lead down to six after a pair of Harris free throws with 7:46 left but an O'Suji jumper at the 5:10 mark put the Huskies back ahead by double-digits, 71-60. Gates drained his third three of the game with 3:34 remaining to make it a 75-66 game in HBU's favor. The Lumberjacks scored the next seven points to pull within two with just 1:32 left to play and after an HBU timeout, DuBose took a pass from O'Suji to drop in a layup and put HBU back ahead by four, 77-73.
 
SFA got points on its next two possessions while HBU committed a pair of turnovers, leaving the Huskies trailing by two with nine seconds to go. After Harris missed his second free throw, Gates got a good look at a three at the buzzer but it went in and out for a 79-77 final.
 
DuBose led the Huskies with 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting, including 2-of-3 from deep, while also adding five rebounds and three steals. Gates gave HBU 14 off the bench, knocking down three from long-range. O'Suji added 12 points while dishing out a career-high nine assists and grabbing five rebounds. Edward Hardt and Uloko both had eight points while Ty Dalton finished with seven.
 
Harris led all players with 35 points while Bain added 16 for the Lumberjacks with Bogues and Davonte Fitzgerald each scoring 10. The Huskies out-rebounded SFA 44-34 but were out-scored 43-30 in the paint.
 
HBU shot 41.3 percent (26-of-63) from the field and was 35.3 percent (6-of-17) from deep while SFA finished the night shooting 48.3 percent (29-of-60) for the game.
 
HBU will be off this weekend before traveling to Conway, Ark. for a matchup with Central Arkansas on Wednesday, Feb. 13, at 7:00 p.m.