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NEW ORLEANS, La. – HBU built its lead as high as 17 in the second half but came up just short at the end, falling to league-leading New Orleans, 75-74, in Lakefront Arena on Saturday night in Southland Conference action
 
New Orleans (17-11, 10-3 SLC) had an early lead, 4-3, and after a 6-6 tie, HBU (9-17, 5-8 SLC) got eight straight points from Sam Hofman for a 14-6 advantage at the 14:14 mark. The Privateers' Troy Green broke the run with a jumper but Brycen Long answered with a three to put the Huskies ahead by nine.
 
From there, UNO worked its way back to down just two, 23-21, with 5:38 on the clock. Darius Lee then made one of two from the foul line followed by Khristion Courseault assisting on a pair of layups from Zach Iyeyemi and Lee to give HBU a seven-point lead, 28-21, just over a minute later. The Huskies pushed their lead as high as 12 after Long's fourth trey of the half and again when a Lee layup with 12 seconds left made it 41-29. UNO got a pair of free throws just before the buzzer for a 41-31 HBU lead at the break.
 
The Huskies opened the second half strong, building their lead with a Hofman triple giving HBU its largest lead of the game, 53-36, just under five minutes into the half. UNO scored the next eight points and got it back under double-digits. After trading buckets and HBU holding a 57-46 lead, the Privateers went on another run with the next nine points to but it to a two-point ballgame, 57-55, with a little over nine minutes left.
 
Lee answered with a three and after a Simeon Kirkland basket on the other end, Hofman knocked down another three for a 63-57 HBU lead with 8:06 on the clock. Two minutes later, Courseault made a layup for a 65-61 lead but the Privateers scored the next six for a 67-65 lead. UNO maintained a slim lead with the Huskies tying things up a couple of times, including at 71-71 after two Courseault with 2:08 left. Trailing five with under a minute to go, Hofman knocked down a three from the top of the key to pull it within one, 74-75. The Huskies got a stop and the ball with 21 seconds left but an errant pass with seconds to go resulted in a turnover and the one-point final.
 
Hofman and Long led the way for HBU with 17 points each. Hofman finished 5-of-9 from three and 2-of-2 from the foul line paired with five rebounds and a career-high three steals. Long, meanwhile, was 5-of-11 from three and 6-of-14 from the floor. Lee finished with 16 points, seven rebounds and seven assists while Courseault added 15 points, five assists and four rebounds.
 
HBU shot 45.6 percent (26-of-57) from the floor, 44.4 percent (12-of-27) from three and 83.3 percent (10-of-12) from the charity stripe. The Huskies lost the battle of the boards, 38-27, with UNO pulling down 14 offensive rebounds and finishing with 17 second chance points.
 
Troy Green led UNO with 28 points while Derek St. Hilaire added 16. The Privateers shot 47.6 percent (30-of-63) from the floor.
 
The Huskies close out the regular season this Saturday, Mar. 5, in Sharp Gym against the McNeese Cowboys at 7:00 p.m. Saturday is Senior Night with the program honoring Hunter Janacek and Zion Tordoff before the game.