Belton, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men's basketball team used hot second-half shooting to grab control of the game and the Cru held off Louisiana College's comeback bid in a 72-66 victory over the Wildcats Saturday evening in Belton. UMHB improves to 5-3 overall and 1-1 in American Southwest Conference play with the victory. The loss drops LC to 2-5 overall and 0-3 in the ASC on the year.

The game was tight through much of the second half with UMHB leading 61-57 with 4:14 remaining in the game. The Cru scored the next seven points to take the out to double figures. Louisiana College pulled back to within five in the final seconds before UMHB clinched it with free throws down the stretch. The Cru never trailed in the first half and led 31-30 at the break. But the two teams traded the lead six times in the second half.

Demarius Cress led UMHB with 23 points and he also grabbed a team-high eight rebounds. Daniel Mills added 17 points off the bench and Aubrie King scored 13. Austen Stolte had seven rebounds and five blocked shots. The Cru shot 60 percent from the field in the second half and hit 52 percent for the game. UMHB also went 19-23 from the free-throw line.

Raheem Regis led the way for Louisiana College with 28 points and ten rebounds. Steve Evans scored 15 points for the Wildcats. LC shot 35 percent from the field and grabbed 21 offensive rebounds.

The Cru will return to action with three games in three days in late December. The UMHB men will open that stretch with a 5:00 PM tip-off against Rust College on December 28th.