Austin, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men's basketball team fell behind early and could not come up with enough defensive stops down the stretch to battle back in a 114-97 loss to Concordia Texas Monday night in Austin. The loss snaps the Cru's six-game winning streak and drops UMHB to 13-5 overall and 10-3 in American Southwest Conference play on the season. The Tornados improve to 12-6 overall and 8-5 in the ASC on the year with the victory.
The Cru's only lead of the game came at 4-2 just 1:13 into the game. There were three ties in the first half and UMHB stayed within five points for much of the first half, before Concordia's hot shooting from long-range allowed the Tornados to push the lead to 60-49 at halftime. The lead would grow to 22 points midway through the second half before the Cru started to chip away. Two Jerard Graham free throws pulled UMHB to within 11 at 93-82 with 6:35 left to play and the Cru would cut the gap to 10 points at the final media timeout with 4:44 remaining. The Tornados scored five of the next seven points coming out of the break and UMHB would not get closer than 11 points the rest of the way as Concordia held on for the win.
Graham led the Cru with 27 points and he added nine rebounds, six assists and three steals. He shot 10-18 from the field and scored 20 or more points for the eighth straight game. Russell Green added 16 points and a team-best 11 rebounds. Daniel Mills and Jalen Jury had 13 points apiece and Layton Zinsmeister scored a season-high 10 points. UMHB shot 56 percent from the field as a team, but hit just 2-7 from three-point range. The Cru also turned the ball over 21 times in the game. The two teams combined for 59 total fouls and 71 free throw attempts in the contest. UMHB out rebounded Concordia 37-31 in the loss.
Andre Potts hit 8-12 from three-point land and topped Concordia with 32 total points. Josh Sanchez added 22 with 20 of those coming in the first half. Rashad Coleman chipped in 16 points as 12 different players scored for the Tornados. CTX shot 63 percent from beyond the arc in the first half and finished 17-32 from three-point range. The Tornados shot 56 percent overall as a team in the victory.
The UMHB men will return to action with a 3:00 PM tip-off at Louisiana College on Saturday in Pineville, Louisiana. That game will be broadcast locally on KTEM 1400 AM. The Cru will continue its road swing with games at East Texas Baptist and LeTourneau University next week.