BELTON, Texas – The Edgewood College men's basketball team looked to end the year 2012 with a bang, but ran into a road block in Texas. The Eagles only managed 21 second half points as they fell to the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor 71-53 in the Cru Classic on Saturday night.

Almost four minutes passed on the game clock before Edgewood College (2-11) found the scoreboard with a three-pointer by Joe Klocek. At that point, the Eagles were down 11-3 and after a few more baskets, Edgewood College fought back to a 15-9 deficit with 13:38 left on the clock. Again, Mary-Hardin Baylor (9-2) put together another run and pushed their lead to 23-9 beforeMichael Janusek sparked an Eagle rally with a triple. Edgewood College scored 13 straight points to pull within one with just under seven minutes remaining in the half. After the two teams traded baskets back and forth the Eagles again found themselves trailing, this time by three, before Klocek converted a jumper with a minute remaining to make the score 33-32. The Crusaders' Antoine Chaney hit a last second three-pointer to give UMHB a 36-32 cushion at the break.

In the second half, the Eagles struggled to get going and only converted on 30.8 percent of their baskets. Edgewood College only hit three of 11 from triple range and was 2-for-7 from the charity stripe. Mary-Hardin Baylor quickly built their lead to double digits after the break and never looked back.  The Crusaders were up by as much as 20 before Travis Schaaf hit two free throws in the final 32 seconds to make the final 71-53.

Despite only scoring 53 points, three of the Eagles' five starters hit double digits. Klocek cashed in 12 points to go along with six boards while Dylan Rusch and Craig Cashton had 11 and 10, respectively. Edgewood College's starters accounted for 47 of the Eagles' 53 points.

As a team, the Eagles committed 18 turnovers and shot 40.4 percent from the field, largely due in part to a 13-for-26 first half performance.

Edgewood College will return home on January 5 as they take on Concordia University Chicago in the second game of a double-header. The Edgewood College women's basketball team will precede the men's game. Live stats and live video will be available with the coverage available on EdgewoodCollegeEagles.com.