Box Score
Belton, TX – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men’s basketball team missed one potential game-winning shot, but Ervin Johnson buried two clutch free throws with 1.6 seconds left to provide the difference as the Cru edged Concordia Texas 79-78 Monday night in Belton. The UMHB improve to 8-5 overall and 6-3 in American Southwest Conference play and claim a sweep of the season series with the Tornados with the victory. The loss drops Concordia to 6-7 overall and 4-5 in the ASC on the season.
The Tornados seemed to take control of the game by opening up a 14-point lead at 54-40 on a Nick Haynes three-pointer with 15:58 remaining. But the Cru stormed back with a 20-6 run capped by Dean Pele’s long-range three to tie the game at 60 with 10:37 left to play. A Greg Wiernas lay-in would give UMHB a 62-60 lead, but Concordia battled back and took a 72-67 lead with 3:51 to play. The Cru would close to within two points before the Tornados pushed it back to a 78-74 lead on Brad Walker’s lay-in with 1:03 remaining. Concordia would not score again and Pele drilled another long-range three to cut it to 78-77 with 48 seconds left. Pele would block Walker lay-in at the other end and UMHB set up one final shot. Pele’s three was off, but Johnson grabbed the rebound and was fouled by Walker with 1.6 seconds to go. Johnson calmly nailed both free-throws to make it 79-78 UMHB and the Tornados were unable to get off a shot on the final possession. Concordia led 41-36 at halftime after dominating the Cru on the boards in the first half to help overcome UMHB’s 65 per cent shooting.
Pele led UMHB with 17 points and Johnson added 13 points and eight rebounds off the bench. Kevin Neal chipped in 11 points and Theo Ard added 10 for the Cru. Walker topped Concordia with 22 points and Reza Farahani added 16 points and a team-best four assists. Justin Reefer had 12 points and a game-high nine rebounds for the Tornados and Kenny Williams had 10 points.
UMHB shot 61 per cent from the field in the game and hit 6-12 from three-point range. UMHB won despite turning the ball over 30 times and hitting just 17-32 from the free-throw line. Concordia out rebounded the Cru 36-32, but the Tornados shot just 28 per cent from beyond the arc and turned the ball over 24 times.
The Cru will continue its home stand with two more ASC West Division games this week. UMHB will host Sul Ross State for a 7:30 PM tip-off on Thursday night before closing out the week with a 3:00 PM start against Howard Payne University on Saturday.