Marshall, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men's basketball team used a solid defensive effort to take control of the game as the Cru rolled to a 67-44 victory over East Texas Baptist University Thursday afternoon in Marshall. The UMHB men improve to 5-4 overall and 3-3 in American Southwest Conference play with the victory. The loss drops the Tigers to 4-5 overall and 2-4 in the ASC on the season.

The Cru opened the game with a 6-0 run before ETBU answered with an 8-0 run to take its only lead of the game at 8-6. James Allen buried a three-pointer to put UMHB on top 9-8 and the Cru held the Tigers to just 10 more points in the first half in building a 28-18 lead at the break. UMHB would stretch the lead to as many as 26 points in the second half in cruising to the victory.

Allen led the Cru with 15 points as he hit 3-5 from three-point range. Jerard Graham added 14 points and Kevin Waller had his first double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds. UMHB shot 45 percent from the field as a team and out rebounded the Tigers 41-32. The Cru went 6-14 from three-point range to help overcome 3-8 shooting from the free-throw line.

Jamil Samuel led ETBU with 16 points and Justin Felicia added nine points and nine rebounds. The Tigers shot 33 percent from the field and hit just 27 percent from three-point range in the loss.

UMHB will close out its road trip with a 3:00 PM start at LeTourneau University Saturday in Longview. The Cru will then return home to host three ASC games next week at the Mayborn Campus Center.