Belton, TX— The McMurry University men's basketball team erased a double-digit Mary Hardin-Baylor lead in the final 10:47 of the game and the War Hawks iced the game from the free-throw line to post a 77-69 victory over the Cru in the semifinals of the American Southwest Conference Championship Tournament. McMurry improves to 19-8 on the season with the win. The loss drops the fifth-ranked Cru to 25-2 on the year with both losses coming at the hands of McMurry.

UMHB built a 40-29 halftime lead after shooting 47 percent from the field in the first half. The Cru went cold in the second half, scoring just one point in the first six minutes as McMurry closed the gap to six points. Two Cory Meals free-throws took the UMHB lead back to double digits at 53-43 with 10:47 to go. The War Hawks used a 20-10 run to tie the game at 63 with 5:00 remaining and took the lead for good on Bryce Hill's jumper with 4:18 left to play. McMurry built a nine-point lead at 73-64 with 49 seconds on the clock and UMHB would not get closer than five points the rest of the way.

Meals topped the Cru with a career-high 19 points. He was 6-7 from the field. Marlon Miller and James Allen added 11 points apiece and Brian Todd pulled down a team-best seven rebounds. UMHB shot just 36 percent in the second half and went 0-7 from three-point range in that half.

Jaden Isler poured in 26 points to top McMurry on a 7-10 shooting day. Steven Jones added 10 points and 10 rebounds and Anthony Johnson also had 10 points. The War Hawks shot 56 percent from the floor in the second half and also out rebounded UMHB 36-26 in the game.

The War Hawks will now advance to tomorrow's championship game with a chance to defend its ASC title against Hardin-Simmons University. The winner of that game secures the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III National Championships. The Cru will have to hope for an at-large bid to the NCAA postseason when the field is announced on Monday.