WASHINGTON, D.C.--The Hood College men's basketball team (10-5, 5-1 CAC) earned its fourth victory in five games but had to stymie a late rally to do it, posting a 56-53 Capital Athletic Conference triumph over Gallaudet University (4-8, 0-6 CAC) Wednesday evening.

Hood remains atop the league standings with the win and improves to 7-3 all-time against Gallaudet. The Blazers are also now 4-1 at GU's Field House since the series began in 2003-04.

After a three-pointer by Jocus Houston gave the Bison a 17-15 lead with 6:37 to play in the first period, Hood ripped off 12 unanswered points to go up 27-17 with 2:28 remaining before intermission. Brenden Straughn, Tory Wilson and Justin Stone contributed to the burst. Hood went on to take a seven-point cushion (29-22) into the locker room.

Hood's lead swelled to as many as 13 in the second half but the Bison would not fold and rallied to knot the score at 50-50 on a Johnny Jackson layup in transition with 2:49 to go. After a Blazer timeout, Straughn drilled his second trey of the game on Hood's ensuing possession off a feed from Tyler Snoots. After Jackson was whistled for an offensive foul at the other end, J'Air Brady converted a layup to push the lead back to five with 1:18 left in regulation.

Gallaudet was unable to get its next three consecutive layups to fall but a Danny Kelly triple was true with 22 ticks left to cut the margin to three. The Bison forced the Blazers to turn the ball over on their next trip but Gallaudet's next three attempts from the floor, including two from long range in the closing seconds, were off the mark and the Blazers escaped with yet another narrow victory.

Brady paced the Blazers with a game-high 15 points on 5-of-10 from the field while Snoots finished with 12 points and a team-high nine boards.

Kelly and Luther Weedon contributed 14 points apiece to lead the Bison.

Hood has a bye from CAC action this weekend but returns to the hardwood Monday at Marymount University at 4 p.m.