Box Score
Belton, TX – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men’s basketball team dominated the first half and the Cru never looked back in a 96-68 rout of Hardin-Simmons University Saturday afternoon in Belton. The UMHB men improve to 15-6 overall and 13-4 in American Southwest Conference play. The win, coupled with Concordia's victory over McMurry also gives the Cru sole possession of first place in the ASC West Division. The loss drops the Cowboys to 4-17 overall and 4-13 in the ASC on the season.
Hardin-Simmons scored the game’s first three points and would lead 6-5 with 18:00 remaining in the first half, but it was all UMHB from there. The Cru would take its first double-digit lead at 31-20 with 8:20 left in the first half. HSU would cut it to nine points at 36-27, but the Cru closed the first half with a 16-2 run to take a 52-29 halftime lead. The Cowboys would not get closer than 23 points in the second half and UMHB stretched the lead to as many as 33 points before clearing the bench in the final minutes.
Dean Pele led UMHB with 25 points and he hit 7-10 from three-point range. Theo Ard added 22 points and a game-high nine rebounds for the Cru and he also dished off five assists. Rich Moore added 12 points and Ervin Johnson had 10 points and seven boards for UMHB in the victory. Carlos Singer came off the bench to lead the Cowboys with 16 points and Ryan Carlson added 14 points on 5-8 shooting. John Derr had 12 points and Casey Riddle added 11 for the Cowboys. Jeff Holland led HSU with eight rebounds.
UMHB shot 55 per cent from the field and went 11-25 from three-point range. The Cru also dominated the boards, out rebounding the Cowboys 45-22 in the victory. HSU shot 41 per cent from the field and went 11-30 from beyond the arc.
The Cru will host Texas Lutheran University of the regular season home finale on Thursday at 7:30 PM. The UMHB men will then finish out the regular season with road games at Schreiner University, Sul Ross State University and Howard Payne University. The Cru men have already clinched a berth in the ASC Championship Tournament.