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LAKE CHARLES, La. – HBU trailed by as many as 15 but cut its deficit down to four in the second half but the Huskies were unable to fully come back as they dropped a 102-89 decision to McNeese on the road inside the H&HP Arena in Southland Conference men’s basketball action on Saturday afternoon.
HBU (1-16, 1-7 SLC) made its first two buckets for an early 5-2 lead but then went three and a half minutes without a field goal, trailing 14-8 after Myles Pierre knocked down a long jumper at the 15:20 mark. The McNeese (11-9, 6-3 SLC) lead grew to 14 after a Roydell Brown layup made it 28-14 three minutes later but the Huskies responded with a 10-3 run that included a pair of Ian DuBose three-pointers to cut it to 31-24 with 8:47 to go in the half.
The Cowboys extended their lead back to double-figures, reaching as many as 15 when they led 44-29 with 3:26 left in the half. For the remainder of the half, however, the Huskies kept the Cowboys from making any field goals and closed the period with an 8-2 run to trail 46-37 at the break. REBOUNDS 28-17 AT HALF
In the second half, an A.J. Lawson layup made it 53-43 but five-straight points from Jason Thompson pulled the Huskies within five. McNeese’s Sha’Markus Kennedy made a pair of free throws on the next possession before Jalon Gates buried a three on the Huskies’ next trip down the floor to make it 55-51, the closest HBU would get in the second half.
The Cowboys pushed their lead back to double-digits but HBU kept getting back to within seven or eight but was unable to close the gap any further.
DuBose ended the day with his third double-double in the last four games, leading the Huskies with 23 points and matching a career-high of 13 rebounds. The junior guard also dished out five assists while adding a pair of steals and a blocked shot. Thompson, a freshman forward playing in just his third game, set new career-bests with 13 points and eight rebounds in 22 minutes off the bench.
Gates connected on 5-of-13 from deep to bring his career three-pointer total to 207 and finished the game with 19 points. The senior now stands just 10 points shy of 1,00 for his career. Pierre added 18 points, six rebounds and four assists for the Huskies.
Kennedy led all players with a career-high 37 points and 14 rebounds for the Cowboys with Lawson adding 23. Kennedy was nearly perfect from the floor, making 14-of-15 field goals and 9-of-11 from the charity stripe.
The Huskies out-rebounded McNeese 48-39 with 23 of those coming on the offensive end. HBU shot 39 percent (32-of-82) as a team while the Cowboys connected on 58.3 percent (35-of-60) from the floor.
Wednesday, Jan. 29, marks the Huskies’ return to Sharp Gym for the next two games with the UIW Cardinals visiting Houston for a 7:00 p.m. tip-off.
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