Huskies Fall in Championship Game

South Dakota pulls away late

Michael Moss contests a shot in the championship game (Photo courtesy of Danny La)

OREM, Utah – The HBU basketball team saw its season come to an end with a 91-86 loss to South Dakota in the championship game of the Great West Conference Tournament on Saturday night at the UVU Events Center.

The Huskies jumped out to an early 6-2 advantage but South Dakota made use of solid three-point shooting to build a 25-15 lead less than nine minutes in to the game.  HBU cut the lead to four but a 13-0 run from USD made it 44-27 with two minutes on the clock.  The Coyotes took a 46-31 lead in to the half.  HBU committed 12 turnovers in the half.

In the second half, it was a different story for the Huskies who turned the ball over just once.  HBU cut the lead to five just eight minutes in but the Coyotes answered, pushing their lead back to 14 with 6:48 on the clock.  The Huskies then went on a 12-0 run to pull within two.  With the game tied at 82-82, USD’s Louie Krogman hit a three-pointer and then a layup to give South Dakota a five point lead with 1:13 remaining.  Mario Flaherty hit a pair of free throws to get back within three but USD made its’ free throws with 20 seconds left to put it out of range.

Flaherty, a senior, capped his career with the Huskies with a 23 point, 17 rebound effort.  He was 10-13 from the field and had three blocked shots.  Fellow team captain and senior Wendell Preadom finished with 20 points and five rebounds.  Both players were named to the All-Tournament team.

Andrew Gonzalez struggled from the field, connecting on 9-23 but he had 20 points.  Freshman Miles Dixon added 13 points, five rebounds and four assists while Michael Moss dished out six assists.

HBU shot 48.6 percent (34-70) for the game, 30 percent (3-10) from three and 78.9 percent (15-19) from the foul line.  The Coyotes hit 28-59 (47.5 percent) from the floor, 10-19 (52.6 percent) from three and 25-30 (83.3 percent) at the charity stripe.  The Huskies held a 39-32 advantage on the boards.

HBU concludes the 2009-10 season with a record of 12-21.