Houston falls to Georgia Tech in the first round of NIT; Houston Baptist bows out of CBI.

ATLANTA— An uplifting season for the Houston Cougars ended on a down note Wednesday night.

Georgia Tech handed UH an 81-62 loss at McCamish Pavilion in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament.

The Cougars finish the season 22-10 after winning just 13 games in 2014-15 in coach Kelvin Sampson’s first season at the school.

Georgia Tech (20-14) led by nine at halftime and broke the game open by scoring the first six points of the second half.

Three-point shooting was a decisive factor as the fifth-seeded Cougars hit just 2 of 13 from long range while the Yellow Jackets were 8 of 16.

Overall, Georgia Tech shot 52.5 percent (32 of 61) from the field and also dominated the boards with a 39-25 advantage in rebounds.

Devonta Pollard closed his UH career by scoring 21 points. Damyean Dotson added 14. Leading scorer Rob Gray Jr. struggled, making 2 of 9 shots from the field while being held to nine points.

Adam Smith led fourth-seeded Georgia Tech with 20 points, and Marcus Georges-Hunt had 19.

The Yellow Jackets, who are in the postseason for the first time in Brian Gregory’s five seasons as coach, move on to play at top seed South Carolina in a second-round game on a date to be determined.

UNC GREENS BORO 69 HOUSTON BAPTIST 65

The Huskies gave up a 17-0 run that wiped out a five-point lead in the second half to lose to the Spartans in a firstround game in the College Basketball Invitational at Greensboro, N.C.

HBU (17-17) led 53-48 with 10 minutes to play before Greensboro (15-18) stormed back for a 65-53 lead. The Huskies missed five shots and committed three turnovers during the run.

They got no closer than three, at 65-62 with 2:14 remaining, after that.

Anthony Odunsi and Colter Lasher led HBU with 12 points each, with Odunsi adding a carerr-high 11 rebounds in his final college game.

It was the Huskies’ first postseason appearance since returning to Division I in 2007 and the first time they had finished with a .500 record after making the move.