Belton, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men's basketball team battled back from an early deficit and then held on with gritty play down the stretch as the Cru posted an 81-77 victory over Concordia Texas Saturday afternoon in Belton. UMHB improves to 4-3 overall and 2-1 in American Southwest Conference play with the victory. The loss drops the Tornados to 3-4 overall and 0-3 in the ASC on the season.

Concordia dominated the early going, jumping out to an 8-2 lead. UMHB clawed its way back into the game and led by as many as four points before settling for a 36-35 halftime lead. The Cru led by as many as six points in the second half, but Concordia fought back to tie the game four times. UMHB's lead was 75-74 with 1:45 remaining and Concordia missed two free throws with a chance to take the lead. Justin Gammill buried a three-pointer at the other end to give UMHB a 78-74 lead. Rashad Coleman hit two free-throws to pull the Tornados to within 78-76. The Cru missed two free throws at the other end, but Concordia turned the ball over with seven seconds left. Layton Zinsmeister hit 1-2 freebies to give UMHB a 79-76 cushion. The Cru fouled Josh Sanchez with 0.9 seconds remaining to play. Sanchez hit 1-2 to cut it to 79-77, but had to foul Gammill on the in-bounds pass. Gammill hit both free-throws to provide the final margin and Concordia never got a shot off as time expired.

Jerard Graham led the Cru with 24 points and 11 rebounds. He scored 16 of those points in the second half. Gammill added a career-high 20 points and eight boards. Russell Green chipped in 16 points and Jalen Jury had 11 for UMHB. The Cru shot 58 percent from the field in the second half and shot 51 percent for the game.  UMHB went 20-29 from the free-throw line.

Donovan Ford led Concordia with 21 points and he hit 4-8 from three-point range. Andre Potts scored 17, Sanchez added 13 off the bench and Coleman scored 11. The Tornados shot 52 percent from the field in the second half and hit 47 percent for the game.  

The Cru men return to action with a 7:30 PM home game against Louisiana College next Thursday, December 18^th. UMHB will then close out the calendar year with a non-conference game at Texas Lutheran University in Seguin on December 31^st.