Pineville, Louisiana – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men's basketball team saw a 14-point second half lead slip away in a 90-86 overtime loss to Louisiana College Saturday afternoon in Pineville. The Cru's fifth straight loss drops the team to 3-7 overall and 0-1 in American Southwest Conference play on the season. The Wildcats improve to 3-8 overall and 1-3 in ASC play on the year with the victory.
UMHB led 37-32 at halftime and pushed that lead out to 14 points at 65-51 with 9:22 remaining in the game. LC responded with a 20-6 run to tie the game at 71 with 2:29 to play in regulation. The two teams traded the lead from there until John Parker tied the game for Louisiana College with a free-throw with 29 seconds left. The Cru missed a potential game-winning lay-up as time expired to send the game to overtime at 76-76. LC grabbed a 90-83 in a frenzied extra session before Daniel Mills buried a three-pointer with 24 seconds left to cut it to 90-86. The Wildcats missed a free-throw on the ensuing possession and UMHB missed its final three shots in an effort to trim the lead before Louisiana College was able to grab a rebound and run out the clock.
Mills led the Cru with 25 points and Demarius Cress added 17 more. Shon Lewis had 11 points and Russell Green chipped in 10. Justin Gammill pulled down a career-high 17 rebounds for UMHB. The Cru shot 41 per cent from the field and went 8-27 from three-point range. UMHB also missed 13 free-throws, hitting 24-37 from the stripe.
Anthony Gaines, Jr. led LC with 27 points and Kevin Lewis had 22 points. Raheem Regis had 15 points and ten rebounds while Steve Evans pulled down 12 boards. The Wildcats shot 37 per cent from the field but managed 21 shots more than UMHB from the floor. LC also out rebounded the Cru 59-49 in the victory.
The Cru will finally return home to host a pair of conference games next week. The UMHB men will welcome LeTourneau University to the Mayborn Campus Center for a 7:30 PM start on Thursday before closing out the week with a 3:00 PM tip against U.T.-Tyler next Saturday.