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KATY, Texas – Similar to their January 9 win over Southeastern Louisiana, Houston Baptist University built a double-digit lead at halftime, and while the Huskies weren’t able to breeze to victory, they were again able to taste victory.
Three-point baskets from Colter Lasher and Caleb Crayton highlighted an 11-2 run down the stretch as fourth-seed HBU fended off Southeastern Louisiana 73-68 at the Southland Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament Thursday evening at Merrell Center. With the victory, the Huskies advanced to Friday’s semifinal against top-seed and two-time defending tournament champion Stephen F. Austin (5 p.m., ESPN3).
“We didn’t quite close it out like we wanted to, but they’re a tough ballclub,” HBU coach Ron Cottrell said of Southeastern Louisiana, which ended its season with a 12-21 record.
The Huskies were keyed by the success of its bench, which provided 35 points, including 15 from Asa Cantwell, who hit five of the team’s 11 3-pointers on the night. Freshman forward Isaiah Robinson added a huge boost by pulling down 11 rebounds to go along with six blocked shots.
“We had to push Isaiah into the forefront more than we planned his freshman year,” Cottrell said. “For a freshman to come into his first season of action, 11 rebounds and six blocked shots is something special.”
HBU, which led 33-20 at intermission, withstood a withering barrage from Southeastern Louisiana to start the second half, as the Lions stunned the Huskies with a 17-1 run that was capped off by Joshua Filmore’s 3-pointer that gave Southeastern Louisiana a 37-34 lead with 14:49 remaining. The rim was cinched tightly on the Huskies, who missed their first 10 shots of the second half before Anthony Odunsi scored on a layup with 14:08 left.
The lead went back and forth before Odunsi hit a pair of free throws to give HBU the lead for good at 52-51 at the 6:49 mark, springing the door wide open for Lasher and Crayton, who hit consecutive treys to begin providing a cushion for the Huskies, a lead that became larger when Lasher knocked home a third triple that expanded the margin to 61-53 with 4:11 remaining.
Odunsi helped clinch the win, as he connected on all 12 of his free throw attempts during the contest, helping him to finish with 20 points, nine rebounds and three assists.
Southeastern Louisiana was never able to draw within five despite the efforts of junior forward Jordan Capps, who had a game-high 23 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the season. The junior college transfer from Northwest Florida State ended his first year with the Lions with double-doubles in his last two games.
Despite the efforts of Capps, HBU controlled the boards for most of the contest, outrebounding Southeastern Louisiana by a 47-32 margin, including a 15-8 edge on the offensive glass.
“Even as the game went on, several times they got offensive rebounds and they turned that into baskets and threes,” Lions coach Jay Lader said. “The difference in the glass, negative 15, you’re not going to win many basketball games.”
HBU will face a Stephen F. Austin team which handed them an 82-54 loss on the road back on February 27. While the Huskies shot 48 percent from the field, they were crippled by the 25 turnovers they committed against the Lumberjacks, who got 23 points from Clide Geffrard and 10 assists from Trey Pickney.
POSTGAME QUOTES:
Houston Baptist Head Coach Ron Cottrell
On today’s game…
“First of all, I thought our first-half defense, with a couple exceptions, was as good as we’ve played in quite some time. I thought our guys came out and defended really well and kept Southeastern off balanced, holding them to 29 percent from the floor in the first half. I was really pleased with what we were able to do defensively. Their zone gave us some trouble offensively early. Once we started moving the ball I thought we got a lot better looks and got the ball inside.”
On the play of Isaiah Robinson…
“Robinson has really stepped up as we’ve gone along. He’s so long and has such court awareness of how to go get blocked shots how to get his hands on rebounds. For a freshman to come into his first postseason action and have 12 rebounds and six blocked shots is certainly something special. He’s gaining confidence offensively as we go along. Our guys know that we can give him the ball and he’s going to make smart plays. He’s able to pass it out and some of these guys like that he’ll pass it out to give them the opportunity to shoot the ball.”
Houston Baptist Senior Guard Anthony Odunsi
On rebounding…
“Coach has been preaching for us to get rebounds since the beginning of the season with even more of an emphasis for the tournament. It’s something that we really had to do to win.”
Houston Baptist Freshman Guard Asa Cantwell
On stretching the Lions’ defense….
“It was very important. I knew once I started making shots outside, I could feed the ball in and Ant (Anthony Odunsi) could go it and we started flowing.”
Southeastern Louisiana Head Coach Jay Ladner
On team’s resiliency…
“I was really proud of our guys. At one point we were at 3-15 [on the year] and they never quit. Their attitude never wavered and they finally began to realize the fruits of their hard work and started experiencing some success that carried over from last night. To be honest with you I felt like once we established ourselves and took the lead, it felt like we were going to come back and win.”
On HBU outrebounding Southeastern…
“We talked about [rebounds] coming into and we talked about it at halftime, I think we were negative eight at the half, and we certainly tried to address it there. Early in the second half we did a good job, they were only getting one shot at it. Then we were a little more in tune and aggressive offensively and we were able to make a nice run. Even as the game went on several times they got offensive rebounds and that turned into baskets or threes. And at the end of the game if you’re negative 15 off the glass you’re not going to win very many basketball games.”
Southeastern Louisiana Junior Forward Jordan Capps
On 17-1 run to start the second half
“At halftime, coach told us we had to pick it up on defense. And once we started picking up our defense, our offense began to flow. I don’t know what it is but it does it every time…then that one play when everyone was hustling for the ball, to me that was a momentum play and I felt like we were playing on fire.”