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BEAUMONT, Texas – HBU led for a majority of the second half but a cold spell shooting allowed the host Lamar Cardinals to escape with a 71-65 win over the Huskies on Saturday at the Montagne Center.
 
HBU (2-9, 1-2 SLC) led 4-2 early on but the Cardinals (3-9, 1-2 SLC) out-scored the Huskies 10-2 over the next five minutes for a 12-6 lead. Jason Thompson and Ty Dalton scored the next five points for HBU to pull within one before Lamar extended its lead up as high as eight with 4:35 remaining in the half. The Huskies then worked their way back with Brycen Long hitting a three with 35 seconds to go and Myles Pierre hitting from long-range at the buzzer for a 30-30 halftime tie.
 
The teams traded buckets on the first two possessions of the second period and the Huskies scored on each of their next four possessions for a quick 9-0 run in the span of just 2:30 of game time and jumped out to a 41-32 lead.
 
Lamar came right back, however, and scored the next eight points to get within one before Pedro Castro knocked down a three to break a three-plus minute scoreless stretch. HBU maintained a lead and were ahead 56-49 with eight minutes to go. The Huskies then went cold from the floor as the Cardinals scored the game's next 13 points and pulled ahead 62-56.
 
Trailing by seven with less than a minute to play, Hunter Janacek buried a three and LU's Quinlan Bennett made one of two free throws on the next possession. Janacek then hit another three just seven seconds later to cut the HBU deficit to just two, 67-65. Over the final 22 seconds, Kasen Harrison made all four of his attempts from the line while HBU was unable to connect from three.
 
Castro ended the day with 16 points and 10 rebounds while also blocking three shots and recording two assists and two steals. Janacek added 10 points while hitting on 3-of-6 from beyond the arc and dished out a career-high seven assists. Pierre finished 4-of-4 from the floor and totaled nine points while also dishing out three assists. Long, a freshman, added eight points off the bench.
 
The Huskies shot 53.1 percent (26-of-49) from the floor and 37.5 percent (9-of-24) from three but managed to make just 4-of-8 from the foul line. In the game's final six minutes, the Huskies missed three of four free throw attempts including the front end of two one-and-one opportunities.
 
Lamar held a 34-24 advantage on the boards, including 11 on the offensive end that led to 17 second chance points. The Cardinals shot 49.1 percent (27-of-55) for the game and just 18.8 percent (3-of-16) from deep. Lamar took advantage of its 17 free throw opportunities, however, making 14.
 
HBU will have an off date in the SLC calendar this coming Wednesday before taking on Sam Houston State in Huntsville on Saturday, Jan. 16.