Box Score
Abilene, TX – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men’s basketball team built a double-digit first-half lead and then iced the game from the free-throw line to hold off McMurry’s comeback attempt in an 80-73 victory Thursday night in Abilene. The UMHB men improve to 13-5 overall and 11-3 in American Southwest Conference play with the victory. The Cru has now won seven straight games and stretched its lead over McMurry in the ASC West Division to a game and a half with the victory. The loss drops McMurry to 11-6 overall and 9-4 in the ASC on the season.
UMHB opened the game with a 7-1 run and led by 10 points on three different occasions in the first half. Zane Johnston buried a three-pointer with 12 seconds left to give the Cru a 40-28 halftime lead. McMurry opened the second half with a 6-0 run to cut the lead in half. Theo Ard scored four straight points to push the Cru lead back to double figures and UMHB would lead by 10 at 55-45 with 10:12 remaining in the game. McMurry stormed back and cut the lead to four points at 62-58 with 7:12 left on the clock. The Cru scored the next four points to open up an eight-point lead and McMurry would not get closer than five points the rest of the way as UMHB clinched the victory with clutch free-throw shooting down the stretch.
Theo Ard led the Cru with 18 points and he also grabbed seven rebounds, blocked four shots and dished off four assists before fouling out of the game. Dean Pele added 16 points off the bench on 4-8 shooting from three-point range. Zane Johnston hit 3-5 from long-range and finished with 13 points for UMHB, Sterling Phillips had 12 points and a team-high eight rebounds and Ervin Johnson also added 12 points off the bench for the Cru. Jeremie Hart topped McMurry with 18 points, but hit just 5-18 shots from the field. Hart also grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds. Jamal Anene added 17 points, Steven Luckey chipped in 11 points and Joshua Sanchez had 10 points off the bench for McMurry.
The Cru shot 46 per cent from the field and went 8-19 from beyond the arc. UMHB also held McMurry to just 2-14 shooting from three-point range and 43 per cent shooting from the field in the game. McMurry out rebounded UMHB 41-35, but the Cru blocked eight shots in the victory.
UMHB will now close out its road swing through Abilene with a 3:00 PM tip-off at Hardin-Simmons University on Saturday. The Cru will then return home to host McMurry and HSU at the Mayborn Campus Center next week.