Belton, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men's basketball team withstood Concordia's relentless pressure and pulled away late as the Cru posted a 103-95 victory over the Tornados Saturday afternoon in Belton. UMHB improves to 5-9 overall and 2-3 in American Southwest Conference play with the win. The loss drops the Tornados to 7-7 overall and 2-3 in the ASC on the year.

The Cru built a 12-point first half lead before Concordia answered with a late run to cut it to 55-51 UMHB at the break. Daniel Mills poured in 19 first half points and hit 11-12 from the free-throw line. The Tornados were whistled for 20 first-half fouls and the two teams combined to shoot 54 free-throws in the first half. The two teams were tied at 67 with 13:14 remaining, but Sidney Deloach converted a three-point play on the next UMHB possession and the Cru never looked back. Concordia did close to within 97-93 with 21 seconds to go, but UMHB went 6-6 from the free-throw line down the stretch to put the game away.

Deloach led the Cru with a career-high 25 points and he added a game-high 14 rebounds. Mills added 21 points, Demarius Cress came off the bench to score 19 and Shon Lewis had 11 for UMHB. Nine different players scored three or more points for the Cru. UMHB shot 50 percent from the field as a team and went 5-11 from three-point range. The Cru also held a narrow 39-38 rebounding edge. UMHB was 44-57 from the stripe in the victory as the teams combined for 70 fouls and 96 free-throw attempts.

Demarco Richardson led Concordia with 18 points and Ben Page and Rashad Coleman chipped in 14 points apiece. Three other Tornado players also reached double figures. Concordia shot 46 percent from the field but went just 6-21 from beyond the arc. The Tornados were 27-39 from the line and committed 18 turnovers in the contest.

The Cru men will continue their four-game home stand with three more games next week. UMHB will host University of the Ozarks for a 7:30 PM start on Monday, take on Howard Payne University in a 7:30 PM tip on Thursday and close out the week with a 3:00 PM game against Sul Ross State University next Saturday at the Mayborn Campus Center.