Brownwood, TX – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men's basketball team took control of the game with a late first-half run as the Cru rolled to a 76-52 win over Howard Payne University Saturday afternoon in Brownwood. The UMHB men stretch their winning streak to seven straight games and move to 16-3 overall and 12-1 in American Southwest Conference play with the victory. The loss drops the Yellow Jackets to 5-14 overall and 3-10 in the ASC on the year.

The Cru opened the game with an 8-0 run and led by as many as 11 points early, but HPU fought back to within four at 21-17 with 6:15 left in the first half. UMHB used a 10-0 run to take the lead to 14 and the Cru would take a 39-20 lead in the half. The Cru took the lead over 20 points early in the second half and never let the Yellow Jackets back into the game. Howard Payne would not get closer than 16 points the rest of the way as every UMHB player in uniform saw action.

Brian Todd led the Cru with 21 points on 8-12 shooting and he also grabbed eight rebounds. Kitrick Bell added 14 points and a team-high nine boards for UMHB. Corey Meals had 12 points and Antonie Chaney poured in 11 more off the bench. The Cru shot 42 percent from the floor and out rebounded HPU 46-36 in the victory.

Quelan Lancaster had 12 points off the bench to lead Howard Payne and Michael Thompson scored 11. No starter scored more than eight for the Yellow Jackets. Howard Payne shot 32 percent for the game and hit just 5-17 from three-point range.

The UMHB men will close out their six-game road trip next week with a Tuesday night game at Concordia Texas and a Thursday night tilt at Hardin-Simmons University. Those two teams are tied for second-place in the ASC West Division, two games behind the Cru. After next week's road games, UMHB will close out the regular season with four straight home games. The Cru has already clinched a berth in the ASC Championship Tournament.