HBU Huskies down Northwestern State for first Southland Conference win

Photo by Darla Tamulitis-La Vita Loca Photography

By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2014 TexSport Publications

HOUSTON, TEXAS (January 12, 201`4) Houston Baptist’s Tyler Russell scored 16 points against Northwestern State on Saturday evening, but his final two points of the game will be remembered for years to come.

With HBU railing 97-96 late in the game, the junior guard hit a baseline jumper with seven-tenths of a second remaining to give the Huskies a 98-97 win over the Demons at Sharp Gymnasium in Houston on January 11, 2014.

HBU led by 15 points at the 16:47 mark in the second half, but the Demons battled back to take a one point lead with 16 seconds left in the game.

The Huskies got the ball back after the score, which allowed Russell to take a shot with six seconds remaining.

His shot missed and was quickly rebounded by Marcel Smith, who passed the ball back to Russell for the winning shot.

The win was the first-ever for HBU in Southland Conference action and raised their season record to 4-12 and a 1-3 conference mark.

Smith tallied 21 points for HBU, followed by Rob Lewis with 20 and Russell’s 16.

Cody Joyce also scored in double-digits with 10 points.

Eleven Huskies got into the scoring column, with the bench recording 37 of HBU’s 98 points.

The Huskies scored 40 points in the paint, 18 second chance points and six on fast-breaks.

Reveal Chukwujekwu pulled down 11 of the Huskies 39 rebounds while Dauson Womack added eight.

For the Demons, Jalen West scored 31 points, with Zikiteran Woodley adding 24 and DeQuan Hicks with 20.

HBU will hit the road for their next two contests, facing Nicholls State on January 16 and McNeese State on January 18.

The McNeese State game will be broadcast on ESPN3.