Alpine, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men's basketball team got a clutch three-pointer in the final seconds to provide the winning points as the Cru knocked off Sul Ross State 59-58 Saturday afternoon in Alpine. UMHB improves to 12-6 overall and 5-4 in American Southwest Conference play with the victory. The loss drops the Lobos to 9-10 overall and 5-5 in the ASC on the season.
Sul Ross State led the entire first half and well into the second before the Cru used a 7-0 run to tie the game at 51-51 with 3:43 left to play. The two teams traded baskets before Demarius Cress gave UMHB its first lead of the game at 55-53 with a bucket with 2:06 remaining. Conner Dawson's three-pointer put the Lobos on top 56-55 before Cress hit a free-throw to tie it with 1:28 left to play. Sul Ross grabbed four offensive rebounds on the next possession, but could not score as Daniel Mills swatted away the final shot of the series. UMHB would miss its chance to take the lead and Jacob Dawson's jumper with five seconds to go put the Lobos up 58-56. UMHB took a time out to draw up the final shot and King buried a three-pointer for his first points of the game on what proved to be the game-winner with one second showing on the clock. Sul Ross was unable to get a shot off before the final buzzer sounded.
The Lobos opened the game by scoring the first seven points and led by as many as 11 points in the early going. The Cru was able to whittle away at that lead and closed the gap to 29-25 at halftime. The Lobos were never able to pull away in the early minutes of the second half as UMHB managed to stay within at least eight points before making the late run.
Cress poured in 25 points to lead all scorers for the Cru. Mills and Keenan Holdman added eight points apiece. Austen Stolte grabbed 12 rebounds as UMHB out rebounded the Lobos 41-33 in the victory. The Cru shot 44 percent from the field overall, but was just 2-15 from three-point range. UMHB also went 15-23 from the free-throw line.
Xavier Webb led Sul Ross with 19 points as he hit five three-pointers in the contest. C.J. Ross added 11 points. The Lobos shot 35 percent from the field and went 9-31 from beyond the arc.
Saturday's game closed out a four-game road trip for the Cru that saw the team go 3-1. UMHB will now host a five-game home stand. That stretch starts with a 7:30 PM start against Hardin-Simmons University Thursday at the Mayborn Campus Center.