Belton, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men's basketball team built a double-digit second half lead and then held on to post a 72-68 victory over Howard Payne Saturday evening in Belton. The Cru improves to 3-2 overall and 1-1 in American Southwest Conference play with the victory. The loss drops the Yellow Jackets to 1-5 overall and 1-4 in the ASC on the year.

Howard Payne opened up an early 14-9 lead in the first half before UMHB answered to take a 34-29 halftime lead. The Cru stretched the lead to double digits at 42-31 just under three minutes into the second half and led by as many as 12 points before the Yellow Jackets began to chip away. Donovan Ford's lay-in pulled Howard Payne to within one at 69-68 with 13 seconds remaining, but James Allen buried two free throws at the other end to give UMHB a 71-68 lead. Brandon Gould missed the front end of a one-and-one for Howard Payne and Jerard Graham grabbed the rebound for the Cru. Graham hit one free throw with seven seconds left and Kitrick Bell rebounded the Yellow Jackets final shot attempt to preserve the victory for UMHB.

Allen came off the bench to lead the Cru with 20 points and he added five assists. Bell posted a double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds. Antonie Chaney poured in 19 points for UMHB and Graham snagged a game-high 14 boards. The Cru shot 35 per cent from the field and went 16-24 from the free-throw line.

Ford topped all scorers with 26 points for Howard Payne and Gould posted a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. The Yellow Jackets shot 40 per cent from the field and went 12-19 from the stripe in the loss.

The Cru men will return to action with a road conference game next Saturday. UMHB will travel to Austin to take on Concordia Texas in a 3:00 PM tip off.