Houston Baptist gets by Northwestern State 98-97

Jan 11, 2014, 11:13 pm

HOUSTON -- Tyler Russell, who had 16 points, hit a jump shot with two seconds remaining to give Houston Baptist a 98-97 victory over Northwestern State Saturday night.

Houston Baptist (4-12, 1/3 Southland) led throughout most of the game, holding a 96-89 advantage with 2:30 remaining in the game. Northwestern State (5-10, 1-3) reeled off 8 consecutive points, and led for the first time in the final period 97-96 when DeQuan Hicks, who had 20 points, made a layup with 16 seconds remaining.

Russell missed a jumper with six seconds left but Marcel Smith corralled an offensive rebound, allowing Russell to hit the winning shot.

Smith had a career-high 21 points, Rob Lewis contributed 20 with 6 assists and Cody Joyce added 10 points for the Huskies.

Houston Baptist was 7 of 11 from beyond the arc, making 53.8 percent of their field goals.

Jalan West had 31 points for Northwestern State.