Belton, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men's basketball team used an 11-0 run midway through the first half to take control of the game and the Cru pulled away from there on the way to an 82-59 victory over the University of the Ozarks Saturday in Belton. UMHB improves to 16-7 overall and 13-5 in American Southwest Conference play on the season with the victory. The loss drops the Eagles to 8-16 overall and 4-15 in ASC play on the year.

Ozarks scored first before UMHB went on an 8-0 run. The Eagles were within five points at 16-11 before the Cru put together its 11-0 run to grab a 27-11 lead with 8:57 left in the first half. UMHB would lead by as many as 26 points in the first half and held a 45-21 edge at halftime. Ozarks never got closer than 21 points in the second half as the Cru stretched it out to as many as 35 points before cruising to the victory.

Daniel Mills led UMHB with 18 points off the bench on 6-7 shooting. Jerard Graham added 15 points, Sidney Deloach scored 14 points and pulled down seven rebounds and Kevin Waller chipped in 13 points, including eight in the opening minutes. Layton Zinsmeister had a double-double with 10 rebounds and 10 assists for the Cru. UMHB shot 56 percent as a team in the first half and finished at 49 percent for the game. The Cru also out rebounded the Eagles 51-31 in the win.

Kelby Robinson topped Ozarks with 17 points and he also had a team-high six rebounds. Josh Berard was the only other player in double figures for the Eagles with 11 points. Ozarks shot just 28 percent from the field as a team and went 5-23 from beyond the arc.

The game closes out the regular season home schedule for the UMHB men and was also the final home game in the careers of UMHB seniors Graham and Waller. The Cru men close out the regular season with a pair of crucial ASC road games next week. UMHB will face U.T.-Dallas in a 7:30 PM start on Thursday in Richardson. The Cru will then take on Hardin-Simmons in a 3:00 PM tip-off next Saturday in Abilene.