Austin, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men's basketball team built double-digit leads in both halves and hit clutch free throws down the stretch as the Cru knocked off Concordia Texas 96-90 Saturday afternoon in Austin, The UMHB men improve to 10-5 overall and 3-3 in American Southwest Conference play with the win. The Cru has won eight of its last ten games. The loss drops the Tornados to 10-6 overall and 4-3 in ASC play on the year.
UMHB controlled the final minutes of the first half to build a 47-38 lead at halftime. Concordia closed to within three points early in the second half before the Cru responded with a scoring surge to push the lead to 66-55 with 11:59 remaining in the game. UMHB still led by ten points with 5:25 to go but Concordia clawed back to within five points at 87-82 with 2:19 on the clock. Demarius Cress wrapped three free throws around a Tornado lay-up and the Cru hit its final six free throws to keep Concordia at bay in the final seconds. UMHB led by as many as 11 points in a first half that featured 10 ties and 11 lead changes.
Aubrie King led the Cru with 29 points on 7-13 shooting from three-point range. He also grabbed a team-best nine rebounds. Keenan Holdman added a career-high 16 points and Cress totaled 15 points. Ryan Newton had 11 points and seven rebounds off the bench and Braden Hammond also reached double figures with 10 points. UMHB shot 48 percent from the field and went 10-21 from three-point range. The Cru held Concordia to just 15 percent from beyond the arc in the victory.
Ephrain Price topped the Tornados with 21 points and Chase Brooks had 18 points and nine rebounds off the bench. Joe Neal (14 points), Joshua Samuels (12 points) and Philip Meikle (10 points) also reached double figures for Concordia. The Tornados shot 42 percent from the field, but did out rebound UMHB by a 44-41 margin.
The Cru returns to action with a 5:00 PM tip-off at U.T. Dallas in Richardson on Monday. UMHB will continue its four game road trip with contests at Howard Payne University and Sul Ross State University next Thursday and Saturday.