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KATY, Texas – HBU trailed by 10 with less than eight minutes to play but fought back to take a one-point lead with one minute left but ultimately fell, 81-79, to Lamar in the first round of the Southland Conference tournament on Wednesday evening at the Merrell Center.
 
Braxton Bonds recorded three steals in the first two and a half minutes of the game and the Huskies (12-18) built an early 11-6 lead. Lamar (20-12) responded with a 10-0 run to go up 16-11 before Jalon Gates knocked down a three to cut it to 16-14 with 9:43 to go in the half.
 
Gates put HBU back in the lead after making one of two free throws at the 7:36 mark but back-to-back buckets by Jordan Hunter and Josh Nzeakor gave Lamar a 21-18 advantage. From there, neither team led by more than three the rest of the half with Lamar holding a slim 33-32 lead at halftime. The first half saw five lead changes and four tied scores with both teams holding no greater than a five point lead.
 
In the second half, a Braxton Bonds layup a little over one minute in put HBU ahead 36-35 but the Cardinals went on a 9-0 run to go up 44-36. An Ian DuBose free throw followed by a Jackson Stent trey then cut HBU's deficit to four less than four minutes in. Two minutes later, with Lamar leading 46-41, Oliver Lynch-Daniels sank his second three of the game but Hunter answered to put LU back up by five.
 
With 7:34 left in the game, Lamar's Nick Garth made his lone three of the game to give the Cardinals a 63-53 lead. From that point, the Huskies began to whittle the lead down with a seven-point run to get within two with just four minutes remaining. HBU then pulled within one three times before Gates got the line to shoot a pair with 1:01 on the clock. The junior made both for a 77-76 Huskies lead.
 
Nzeakor made one of two at the free throw line to even the score and on HBU's next possession Gates' three-point attempt was off-target. With three seconds on the clock, Nzeakor completed an and-one for a three point advantage. Lamar fouled Stent around midcourt to send him to the line where he made both to get within one but Garth made one of two at the line to end the game.
 
Gates led the Huskies with 19 points off the bench, connecting on 4-of-8 from beyond the arc and 7-of-9 from the charity stripe. Edward Hardt was an efficient 6-of-9 from the floor and 4-of-6 from the line to finish with 16 points and a team-high six rebounds. Lynch-Daniels added 10 off the bench while Bonds finished with 10 points and five steals.
 
The Huskies shot 43.9 percent (25-of-57) from the floor and were 43.8 percent (7-of-16) from deep. From the free throw line, HBU was just 22-of-35 (62.9 percent) while Lamar made 77.3 percent (17-of-22) from the line. The Huskies held Lamar to just 26.7 percent (4-of-15) from three. Additionally, HBU took care of the ball with just seven turnovers while forcing 13 by the Cardinals.
 
LU held a 43-28 advantage on the boards, limiting the Huskies to just six on the offensive end. Nzeakor led all players with a double-double of 25 points and 13 rebounds while Hunter added 18. Garth and Edwin Jeudy finished with 10 each.