Men's Basketball Downs SLC Foe Houston Baptist, 72-64

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NEW ORLEANS – Four Privateers posted double-digit scoring totals – including a 12-point, 11-rebound performance by senior forward Erik Thomas – as the University of New Orleans men's basketball team defeated Southland Conference foe Houston Baptist, 72-64, on Thursday evening in Lakefront Arena.

UNO scored the game's opening basket and never trailed at any point, but things got tight midway through the second half as the Houston Baptist rallied from a 40-25 deficit to make it a one-point game at 54-53 with 7:54 to play. The Privateers responded with an 8-0 run over the next 2:02 to create separation and the lead never dipped below seven the rest of the night.

In victory, New Orleans improved to 10-7 on the year and 5-1 in Southland action. The Privateers' win total to date already equals the mark of a year ago and their five league wins is one short of the 2015-16 total. Houston Baptist, meanwhile, dropped its third-consecutive contest to fall to 7-10 overall and 3-4 in league play.

"It was a huge night for us to come out and play after our bye on Saturday," UNO head coach Mark Slessinger said. "The energy in the arena was great, first off. Having the students back along with another growing crowd, the energy was great. The team really fed off of that. This is a special place to play. When they're great energy in this place, it's a special, special place to play and I'm very proud of that.

"We played so hard and so unselfishly. We had four guys in double figures tonight. We didn't execute well in stretches. There were some very careless turnovers, which is frustrating. There was some easy stuff that we worked on that we just didn't execute in the second half, but when it counted we guarded at a high level and then we moved the ball and got it to where we needed to."

Senior guard Nate Frye came off the bench to lead the way offensively with 15 points while senior guard Christavious Gill added 14 and junior forward Travin Thibodeaux finished with 10. Gill paced the Privateers with four assists, Thibodeaux posted four steals and junior duo of forward Makur Puou and swing man Michael Zeno tallied a pair of blocked shots each.

As a team, UNO shot 50.0 percent from the field (21-of-42), including a .563 clip in the second half (9-of-16), while allowing the Huskies to connect at a .429 pace (24-of-56) with a .313 showing from beyond the 3-point arc (5-of-16). The Privateers held slight edges in assists (14-13) and steals (12-10) and both teams had 31 rebounds.

While New Orleans held a 4-0 edge in blocks and outscored HBU off the bench, 24-10, the biggest discrepancy on the stat sheet between the two teams was the Privateers' ability to get to the free throw line. Houston Baptist was whistled for 32 personal fouls, including three technicals, and UNO was able to turn that into a 29-of-44 performance from the free throw line (.659). The Huskies finished 11-of-14 (.786) from the stripe.

"That's a good team," Slessinger said of the Huskies. "They've got an incredible group of forwards. [Center Josh] Ibarra is a special guy. Both of their forwards can really shoot it. They've got a lot of talent and their guard play is solid. And they're as good of a coached team as there is in our league. My relationship with their coach goes back 16 or 17 years and have a ton of respect for them. It's a team that we were lucky to get a win from."

UNO scored on the game's opening possession on a Thomas dunk and the two teams sat tied at 4-4 just under two minutes into the contest. From there, the Privateers went on a 13-3 run to go up by double figures at the 11:24 mark of the first half and went up by a dozen at 30-18 with 3:41 to go before the break.

New Orleans took an 11-point lead into the locker room at halftime and led by as many as 15 two minutes into the second half. Undaunted, Houston Baptist scored 11 straight to get to within five at 40-35 with 15:38 to play and later rallied from nine down to make it a one-point affair following a 3-pointer by Colter Lasher.

Zeno sparked UNO's game-deciding run with a jumper and both he and Broyles added single free throws to extend the lead to five. After a Zeno block, Broyles scored on a fast-break dunk and Thomas connected on a layup the next time down the court to make it 62-53 with 5:52 left in regulation.

A layup by Braxton Bonds broke the Privateers' run, but UNO answered with a pair of Gill free throws and a dunk by Puou to go up 11. Houston Baptist managed just three field goals over the final four-plus minutes and the Privateers connected on 6-of-8 free throws down the stretch to hold on to the victory.

"I'm very proud, again, of the progress that they're making," Slessinger said of his team. "I continue to marvel at their unselfishness with each other and how hard they play for each other. They just play within the system and the program. That's been big. I'm so happy for our campus. I'm happy for our alumni, our administration and our athletic department. This is a group effort.

"This isn't just men's basketball. We're in this position because we've got a very supportive group of athletic department administrators along with our other student-athletes, the students on campus, our faculty, staff and our incredible alumni – not only in the metro area but worldwide. This is a group effort across the board for everybody."

Josh Ibarra led Houston Baptist with a game-high 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the field while connecting on both of his free throw tries while Bonds and Reveal Chukwujekwu added 12 each. Chukwujekwu paced the Huskies with nine rebounds, Lasher handed out a team-best four assists and Bonds added a game-high six steals.

The Privateers return to action on Saturday, Jan. 21, when they travel to Conway, Ark., to face Central Arkansas at 4 p.m. UNO's next home game is slated for Thursday, Jan. 26, when the Privateers play host to McNeese at 7 p.m. in Lakefront Arena. For tickets to that game, as well as future Privateer Athletics events, contact the UNO Athletics Ticket Office over the phone at (504) 280-GAME (4263) or via the Internet by clicking HERE.