Box Score
Coach Sless Postgame Interview
HOUSTON, Texas – The New Orleans Privateers men's basketball team (6-9, 3-4 Southland) emerged victorious with a comeback, 79-66 win at Houston Baptist (4-15, 1-6 Southland) on Thursday night in Sharp Gym. The win for the Privateers was also the first road conference win since February 2009.
New Orleans put the game away on a
Tevin Broyles layup that capped a 14-0 run at the 1:16 mark to give the Privateers a 77-59 lead.
"I am so proud of my guys and staff. We weathered the storm from a really good team that we knew coming in could get hot at any given time," said Head Coach
Mark Slessinger. "The way we kept our composure and managed to steadily gain momentum was what helped our cause."
Leading the Privateers in his first game back since injuring himself against Incarnate Word on Jan. 11 was freshman
Christavious Gill with a career-high 18 points that included three 3-pointers. Following Gill was senior
Isaac Mack with 13 points, while freshman
Tevin Broyles and senior
Cory Dixon each tallied 10. Houston Baptist was led by Caleb Crayton with 14 points.
The Privateers built a 13-point lead in the first half on the heels of the sharp shooting Gill with all three of his 3-pointers coming in the first 15 minutes. However, the advantage was erased by a determined Husky squad that closed out the half on a 16-3 run over the final four minutes to take a 36-35 lead into intermission.
After a back-and-forth beginning to the second half, the Privateers took a 47-45 lead via a Mack jumper in the lane with 14:30 left in the game and never looked back. After the Mack's bucket, New Orleans built its advantage to as many as 18 points with 1:19 left sparked by a 14-0 run over the course of five minutes.
"That stretch was what decided the game; we continue to try to improve to put away games and tonight was a step in the right direction to make us a better team," said Slessinger about the final six minutes of the game. "As a team, we responded to adversity and we will put this one to bed tonight and prepare for a tough opponent on Saturday."
New Orleans will continue its trek away from the Lakefront Arena with a contest at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Saturday. Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m, as the game will be preceded by the women starting at 4:00 p.m.
