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HOUSTON – In a game that featured 13 lead changes and 10 ties, senior Jalon Gates reached the 1,000 point milestone but the HBU men's basketball team fell just short in an 84-82 loss to the visiting UIW Cardinals on Wednesday night inside Sharp Gym.
 
Gates, who surpassed 200 made three-pointers last week against Nicholls, reached another major career milestone when he went to the free throw line to shoot three at the 13:44 mark in the second half, knocking down all three. The senior now stands at 1,002 career points and 208 three-point field goals made in 101 career games.
 
An early seven-point from the Huskies (1-17, 1-8 SLC) made it a 9-2 ballgame and HBU again led by seven at the 13:37 point in the first half after a pair of Benjamin Uloko free throws brought the score to 16-9. The Cardinals (5-15, 2-7 SLC) then went on a 9-1 run to lead 18-17 less than two and a half minute later.
 
From there, the first half saw multiple lead changes with UIW going up by as many as five thanks to a Keaston Willis trey with 3:41 left in the period. Ian DuBose responded for the Huskies with back-to-back threes to put HBU back ahead 35-34. Willis scored the next bucket to put the Cardinal ahead by one but HBU scored the next seven points for a 42-36 advantage. At the buzzer, an errant last second shot by Drew Lutz that completely missed the rim fell into the hands of Des Balentine who managed to get a layup in just before the half closed, sending the teams into the half with HBU leading 42-38.
 
Lutz opened the second half with a three for UIW but Jason Thompson connected on consecutive baskets and Gates hit a layup on a fast break to again push the HBU lead to seven, 48-41, just over a minute into the second period. The second half saw numerous lead changes but HBU's last lead came at the 11:45 mark as Thompson made one-of-two from the line, putting the Huskies ahead 65-64. UIW's lead got up to six after a Derek Van Vlerah layup and the Huskies were able to get within one on three occasions, the last of which came at the 1:52 mark on a Myles Pierre layup. UIW made four-of-four free throws down the stretch which was enough to keep the Huskies at bay.
 
Thompson, who set a new career-best of 13 points in the Huskies' last game at McNeese, made the most of his first collegiate start by improving that career-high to 19 on 8-of13 shooting. The freshman forward was also 2-of-4 from three and pulled down seven rebounds. DuBose matched Thompson with 19 points, grabbed eight rebounds and dished out four assists.
 
Sophomore guard Qon Murphy added 10 points off the bench for HBU while Ty Dalton pulled in eight rebounds, dished out seven assists and scored five points. As a team, the Huskies held a 37-28 advantage on the boards while committing 13 turnovers to the Cardinals' 12. HBU shot 46.4 percent from the floor, 43.8 percent from deep, and 76.7 percent from the charity stripe.
 
Willis led the Cardinals with a game-high 23 points with four other players scoring in double-figures. Vincent Miszkiewicz pulled down a team-best eight rebounds.
 
The Huskies will remain at home to host the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders this Saturday, Feb. 1, at 7:00 p.m.