OREM, Utah (AP) — Wendell Preadom scored 22 points and hit the go-ahead basket to lead Houston Baptist to an 80-77 victory over Chicago State in the first round of the Great West Conference tournament Wednesday.
Andrew Gonzalez scored 18 points, Fred Hinnenkamp 16 and Mario Flaherty 12 for the second-seeded Huskies (11-20), who will play the winner of Wednesday’s late game between North Dakota and NJIT on Friday night.
Antonio Lofton had 22 points and a game-high 14 rebounds for the seventh-seeded Cougars (9-23). Carl Montgomery scored 18 and Christian Wall and Victor Scott 12 apiece.
Preadom’s 3-pointer broke a 55-55 tie with 6:10 to play and gave Houston Baptist a permanent lead.
The edge climbed to 70-61 with 1:59 left, but Scott hit a basket with 16 seconds to go and a 3-pointer 9 seconds later to pull Chicago State within 78-77. But Hinnenkamp converted a layup for the final margin.
