Clarksville, Ark. – Jerard Graham's late steal and lay-up proved to be the difference as the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men's basketball team held off a furious University of the Ozarks comeback bid in a 69-67 victory over the Eagles Thursday evening in Clarksville, Arkansas. The Cru improves to 8-4 overall and 5-2 in American Southwest Conference play with the victory. The loss drops Ozarks to 5-7 overall and 3-6 in the ASC on the year.

UMHB took advantage of cold shooting from Ozarks to build a 10-point lead just six minutes into the game and the Cru led 38-28 at halftime. UMHB would go up by as many as 15 points in the second half and still led by 14 at 57-43 with 10:20 remaining before the Eagles started to chip away. Josh Berard and Kelby Robinson hit back-to-back three-pointers to tie the game at 67 with 1:11 left to play. UMHB turned the ball over with 42 seconds left to play, leaving Ozarks a chance to take the lead. But as the Eagles ran the shot clock down, Graham poked the ball away near midcourt and raced to lay it in ahead of three Ozarks defenders with three seconds left. The Eagles had one last chance, but a potential game-winning three was off the mark at the final buzzer as the Cru held on for the win.

Graham had a huge night to lead the Cru. He scored 28 points on 11-18 shooting and added five rebounds and five steals. Daniel Mills and Justin Gammill added 12 points apiece for UMHB and Russell Green pulled down a team-best eight rebounds. The Cru shot 50 percent as a team in the second half and hit 46 percent from the floor for the game. UMHB out rebounded the Eagles 44-31 to help overcome a 2-15 night from three-point range.

Robinson went for 22 points on 4-6 shooting from beyond the arc for Ozarks. Dylan Gray had 20 points off the bench and Jace Richardson also reached double figures with 11 points. The Eagles shot 42 percent from the field as a team and hit 9-25 three-pointers in the game.

The Cru returns to action with a 3:00 PM start at U.T.-Tyler on Saturday. UMHB will then return home to host Hardin-Simmons University and U.T.-Dallas for key ASC games next week.