Belton, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men's basketball team watched an early double-digit lead slip away and could not overcome a late cold stretch as the Cru fell to the University of the Ozarks 96-92 Monday night in Belton. UMHB falls to 5-10 overall and 2-4 in American Southwest Conference play with the loss. The Eagles improve to 8-6 overall and 2-5 in the ASC with the victory.

The Cru scored the game's first nine points and the Eagles didn't hit their first field goal until the 15:31 mark of the first half. UMHB would lead 15-5 in the early going before Ozarks whittled away at the lead and tied the game at 33 at halftime. The two teams traded the lead throughout a second half that featured seven ties and nine lead changes. UMHB would build a 72-65 lead with 7:46 left to play, but a10-3 Ozarks run evened the game at 75 with 6:08 remaining. The Cru would score just three field goals the rest of the way as the Eagles would lead by as many as seven. Demarius Cress converted a three-point play with seven seconds to go to close the gap to 95-92, but Josh Ferrell hit a free-throw on the next possession to make it a four-point lead and a Cru three-pointer at the buzzer was off the mark.

Daniel Mills went 11-16 from the field and 8-9 from the free-throw line to score a career-high 30 points to lead UMHB. Mills also grabbed a team-high nine rebounds. Cress had 24 points and hit 4-7 from beyond the arc. The Cru shot 63 percent from the field in the second half and finished at 49 percent for the game. UMHB hit 10-28 from three-point range and went 18-21 from the stripe. The Cru also out rebounded the Eagles 41-28, but committed 18 turnovers while forcing just nine.

Jace Richardson had a huge night to lead the Ozarks. Richardson scored 27 points and added 11 assists. He also had six rebounds and three steals. Dylan Gray added 20 points, Kelby Robinson chipped in 13 and Ferrell (12 points) and Dillon Gash (11 points) also reached double figures for the Eagles. Ozarks shot 59 percent from the field in the second half and hit 51 percent for the game as a team. The Eagles were 11-25 from beyond the arc and 21-26 from the free-throw line in the victory.

The Cru will close out this four-game home stand with a pair of key ASC West Division games later this week. UMHB will host Howard Payne for a 7:30 PM start on Thursday before welcoming ASC West Division leader Sul Ross State to the Mayborn Campus Center for a 3:00 PM tip on Saturday.