The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men's basketball team trailed by double figures less than eight minutes into the contest before mounting a furious comeback that fell just short as the Cru dropped a 91-85 decision to Saint Vincent Sunday night. The loss came in the opening game of the D3hoops.com Classic in Las Vegas and drops UMHB to 3-4 on the season. The Bearcats improve to 6-2 on the year with the victory.

Saint Vincent opened the game with a 6-0 run before Daniel Mills hit a three-pointer for the Cru. The Bearcats built a 16-6 lead just 7:22 into the first half and led by as many as 22 points before taking a 49-34 lead at halftime. UMHB stormed back in the second half and used an 11-0 run to pull within four points at 56-52 with 14:03 remaining. Saint Vincent stretched it back to an eight-point edge before Jalen Jury buried a three-pointer to make it 68-65 with 7:31 left to play. Layton Zinsmeister added a free throw to make it a two-point game, but the Bearcats were able to take the lead back out to double figures with just under five minutes on the clock. UMHB pulled back to within six points on a Demarius Cress three-point play in the final two minutes and a Jury lay-in cut the gap to 86-82 with 29 seconds remaining. Saint Vincent was able to clinch the victory at the free-throw line in the final seconds.

Jury led UMHB with 27 points and he scored 17 of those in the first half to keep the Cru in the game. Cress added 17 points and Russell Green had 13 for UMHB. The Cru shot 42 per cent from the field as a team and hit 9-24 from three-point range. UMHB also turned 17 Bearcat turnovers into 24 points in the game. The Cru's bench out scored the Saint Vincent reserves 50-12.

Pat Jones led the Bearcats with 31 points and 11 rebounds. Jaylon Bell added 20 points, J.C. Howard chipped in 13 and Austin Dedert scored 11 for Saint Vincent. The Bearcats shot 56 percent from the field in the first half and hit 44 percent for the game as a team. Saint Vincent also outrebounded UMHB 53-32 in the game.

The Cru will play two more games in the D3hoops.com Classic. UMHB will take on Pacific Lutheran University in a 6:00 PM Central Time tipoff on Monday. The Cru then closes out the tournament with a 6:00 PM Central Time start against second-ranked Whitworth University on Wednesday.