Belton, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men's basketball team overcame a nine-minute scoreless stretch and a double-digit second half lead with a furious comeback as the Cru posted a 76-74 victory over Concordia Texas Tuesday night in Belton. The UMHB men improve to 7-4 overall and 5-3 in American Southwest Conference play with the victory. The loss drops the Tornados to 8-3 overall and 5-3 in the ASC on the year.

The Cru used a 12-2 run to grab a 34-24 lead with 6:32 left in the first half but would not score again for more than nine minutes. Concordia closed the first half with a 16-0 run to grab a 40-34 halftime lead. The Tornados also scored the first six points of the second half to push the lead to 12 points before UMHB finally scored a basket 2:43 into the second half. Concordia would lead by as many as 13 points and still held a ten-point edge at 67-57 with 7:43 left to play. UMHB answered with a 17-3 and took its first lead of the second half on Antonie Chaney's three-pointer with 2:05 remaining. Josh Sanchez and Chaney traded jumpers to make it a 74-72 Cru lead with 1:21 to go. Dwayne Patterson's turn-around jumper tied it at 74 with 16 seconds on the clock, but Kitrick Bell's lay-up off a Chaney assist with three seconds to play gave UMHB a 76-74 lead. Concordia would have one last chance, but Kevin Waller intercepted the inbound pass to end the ball game and preserve the victory.

James Allen topped the Cru with 27 points and he added four steals to break the UMHB Division III era career record by pushing his total to 153. Chaney added 18 points and four assists and Bell had ten points. Jerard Graham pulled down a game-high 16 rebounds for the Cru. UMHB shot 49 percent from the field and out rebounded the Tornados 44-33 in the victory.

Sanchez led Concordia with 23 points and he added five assists. Patterson had 18 points and Adam Whitlock chipped in 10 more. The Tornados bench scored just seven points, compared to 23 for the UMHB reserves. Concordia shot just 32 percent in the second half after hitting 57 percent from the field in the first half of the game.

UMHB will continue its home stand with two more conference games this week. The Cru will host U.T.-Tyler for a 7:30 PM tip-off on Thursday night before welcoming University of the Ozarks to the Mayborn Campus Center for a 3:00 PM start on Saturday.