New Orleans beats HBU to remain atop Southland Conference (Jan 19, 2017)

Published Jan. 19, 2017 10:49 p.m. ET

NEW ORLEANS (AP) Nate Frye had 15 points and Christavious Gill added 14 as New Orleans jumped out to an early lead and held off Houston Baptist 72-64 on Thursday night to remain atop the Southland Conference standings.

Gill was 10 of 10 from the free throw line. Erik Thomas had 12 points while pulling down 11 rebounds and Travin Thibodeaux chipped in 10 points for New Orleans (10-7, 5-1), which bounced back after dropping a 70-68 decision to Sam Houston State last week. The Privateers had won five straight before the SHSU game.

New Orleans led 36-25 at the break but Houston Baptist charged back to take the second half 39-36. The Huskies closed to 54-53 when Colter Lasher drilled a 3-pointer with 7:29 left. UNO's Michael Zeno answered with a jumper and a free throw as the Privateers slowly pulled away.

Josh Ibarra led HBU (7-10, 3-4) with 16 points.