Seguin, TX – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men's basketball team grabbed the lead with a hot-shooting first half and then held on in the second as the Cru posted a 60-53 victory over Texas Lutheran Saturday afternoon in Belton. The 5th-ranked UMHB men finish the best regular season in school history at 24-1 overall and 20-1 in American Southwest Conference play. The Bulldogs end the season at 11-14 overall and 10-11 in ASC play.
The Cru scored the game's first four points and built a 29-17 lead with 4:04 remaining in the first half. UMHB would lead 33-25 at halftime after shooting 50 percent from the field in the first half. Texas Lutheran closed to within one point at 42-41 with 11:10 left to play, but UMHB used a 5-0 run to take the lead back to six points. The Bulldogs were back to within two points at 47-45 with 3:55 left, but UMHB used a 6-0 run to push the lead back to eight points and TLU would not get closer than four points the rest of the way.
Sterling Phillips led a balanced Cru scoring attack with 12 points. Cory Meals and Brian Todd added 10 points apiece. Greg Wiernas pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds for UMHB. Ten different players scored for the Cru, who played without leading scorer Marlon Miller. Miller sat out the game to rest for next weekend's ASC Tournament.
Michael Flores topped TLU with 13 points and he added six rebounds. Justin Lindsey chipped in 12 points and Matthew Agonis had 11 points. TLU shot 31 percent from the field and went 8-23 from three-point range.
The Cru will now return home to host the ASC Championship Tournament next Friday, Saturday and Sunday. UMHB won the ASC West Division and will open the tournament Friday night at 7:30 PM against the East Division #4 seed. The Cru is hosting the ASC Tournament for the third time in the last five years.