Longview, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men's basketball team dominated the game early and then cruised in the second half as the Cru rolled to a 77-67 victory over LeTourneau University Saturday afternoon in Longview. The UMHB men improve to 6-4 overall and 4-3 in American Southwest Conference play with the victory. The loss drops the Yellowjackets to 2-8 overall and 1-6 in the ASC on the season.

The two teams would be tied at nine early in the first half before UMHB took over. The Cru closed the first half with a 36-17 run to take a 45-26 halftime lead. The Cru dominated the early going of the second half, as well. Avery Polchinski's three-pointer put UMHB up by 30 at 69-39 with 8:35 left to play. The Cru would still hold a 20-point lead with 3:31 remaining in the game before LeTourneau made a late run to cut the gap to the final margin.

James Allen topped the Cru with 20 points on 9-12 shooting from the field. Jerard Graham hit 6-7 from the field to add 18 points for UMHB and 12 players scored in the game for the Cru. UMHB shot 51 percent from the field and went 7-16 from three-point range in the win.

Ladaria Brown had a game-high 28 points to lead LeTourneau. Brown also hit 7-12 from beyond the arc. Justin Jones added 15 points and nine rebounds for the Yellowjackets. LeTourneau shot 41 percent from the field but the rest of the team was just 2-17 from three-point range in the loss.

UMHB will now return home to host three ASC games next week. The Cru will open that home stand with a 7:30 PM tip-off against Concordia Texas on Tuesday at the Mayborn Campus Center.