Friday leads Abilene Christian past Houston Baptist 75-68

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ABILENE, Texas (AP) — Jalone Friday scored 21 points and Jaren Lewis added 13 and Abilene Christian beat Houston Baptist 75-68 on Wednesday night.

The Wildcats (15-3, 4-1 Southland Conference) have won three straight and are averaging 74.3 points in that span. The Huskies entered leading the conference in scoring at 82.2 points per game while the Wildcats were tops in scoring defense allowing 63.4 per game.

Abilene Christian has won all seven of its games at home this season and is off to its best start since joining Division I in the 2013-14 season. It's their best start since 1998-99 when they started 11-0 and earned a spot in the Division II tournament.

Edward Hardt's jumper with 4:38 left gave the Huskies a 63-61 before Lewis' tip-in and pair of free throws put Abilene Christian up for good. Houston Baptist missed seven of its last 10 shots.

Ian DuBose led Houston Baptist (5-10, 1-3) with 18 points and 11 rebounds, Hardt scored 16 and Braxton Bonds 11.