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HOUSTON – HBU overcame an 11-point deficit to take a lead midway through the second half but New Orleans pulled away late to defeat the Huskies, 77-66, in Southland Conference men's basketball action inside Sharp Gym on Thursday night.
 
After New Orleans (11-8, 4-0 SLC) took a quick 5-2 lead, HBU (8-13, 2-2 SLC) went on a 10-0 run keyed by back-to-back threes from Brycen Long and Darius Lee and capped by a Jade Tse layup at the 16:02 mark. Less than four minutes later, the Privateers had closed the gap and the game was even at 17-17 at the second media timeout just inside 12 minutes. New Orleans then pushed ahead and led by as many as 11 in the first half before the Huskies trimmed it to a 41-33 deficit at the break.
 
Long opened the second half with a three at the 18:25 mark to get within five but UNO responded and led by as many as 12 before a Simeon Kirkland layup brought the score to 52-41. Over the next 5:09 of game time, the Huskies went on a 14-0 run with four three-pointers and held a 55-52 advantage with 10 minutes to go.
 
The two teams then traded leads over the next four and a half minutes but a pair of Derek St. Hilaire free throws with 5:33 remaining gave New Orleans a lead they wouldn't relinquish the rest of the way. A pair of free throws after a technical by Long at the 3:17 mark made it a five-point game but the Privateers scored the next six to put the game out of reach.
 
Lee and Tse tied for the team-lead with 15 points each with Lee just missing out on a double-double with nine rebounds. The senior also matched his career-high of six assists, set last time out at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Tse was 6-of-14 from the floor and added three assists. Khristion Courseault was 3-of-7 from behind the arc and added 11 points while Zach Iyeyemi finished with nine points while Long had eight points and three blocked shots.
 
St. Hilaire led all players with 34 points, shooting efficiently with a 10-of-15 performance from the floor. He was 4-of-6 from three and 10-of-12 from the foul line. Troy Green added 10 points and eight rebounds for the Privateers.
 
The Huskies shot 33.9 percent (19-of-56) from the floor and 36.4 percent (8-of-22) from three. UNO, meanwhile, shot 40 percent (20-of-50) from the field and 50 percent (6-of-12) from deep. The Privateers finished the night 31-of-41 (75.6 percent) from the foul line while HBU was 20-of-26 (76.9 percent).
 
HBU will be right back at it inside Sharp Gym this Saturday, Jan. 29, when the Huskies host Nicholls at 7:00 p.m.