Abilene, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men's basketball team had a chance to stretch the lead in the final seconds, but Hardin-Simmons came up with a crucial blocked shot and two key free throws as the Cowboys held off the Cru 77-76 Saturday afternoon in Abilene. UMHB falls to 16-9 overall and 9-7 in American Southwest Conference play with the loss. Hardin-Simmons improves to 19-6 overall and 13-3 in the ASC with the win. The Cowboys also clinched the ASC West Division title with the victory.

The Cru led by 12 points in the early going of the second half before the Cowboys started to heat up. Hardin-Simmons took its first lead of the second half at 64-62 with 10:57 left to play. UMHB answered with a 7-0 run to take a 69-64 lead on a Demarius Cress three-pointer with 7:57 remaining. HSU fought back to tie the game at 71-71 2:24 later before Daniel Mills converted a three-point play to give the Cru the lead again. Christian O'Neal's jumper would put the Cowboys up 75-74 with 2:31 on the clock, but Cress buried two free throws with 55 seconds to go to make it 76-75 UMHB. Ryan Lang pulled down a rebound for the Cru on the next HSU possession, but Austen Stolte's lay-up was blocked by Justin Jones with 14 seconds left. O'Neal was fouled at the other end and hit the tying and go-ahead free throws with eight seconds left. UMHB had a look at the game-winner, but Aubrie King's three-pointer was off the mark as the Cowboys held on.

UMHB was red hot in the first half in building a 50-40 halftime lead. The Cru shot 58 percent from the field in the first half and went 8-13 from three-point range. UMHB's defense also held HSU to 39 percent shooting and 5-19 from long range in the half.

Mills led the Cru with 21 points and 11 rebounds in the game. King scored 18 points and hit six three-pointers to set a new UMHB single-season record. King has 84 three's on the year to top the previous Cru record of 80 set by Dean Pele during the 2009-10 season. Cress added 16 points for UMHB and Braden Hammond chipped in 11 more. The Cru hit 30 percent from the field in the second half to finish the game at 44 percent. UMHB was 3-11 from three-point range in the second half and shot just 10 free throws in the contest.

Nathaniel Jack scored a game-high 26 points and pulled down 15 rebounds for the Cowboys. Jones added 17 points, nine rebounds and nine blocks. HSU shot 50 percent as a team in the second half and out rebounded UMHB 42-38. Hardin-Simmons was just 6-28 for the game from beyond the arc, but went 11-13 from the free-throw line.

The Cru will now advance to the ASC Championship Tournament for the 14th consecutive year and UMHB will be making its 17th overall appearance in the ASC Tournament. The Cru is the #3 seed from the West Division and will play a first round game against East Division #2 seed U.T. Dallas at noon on Thursday. The ASC Men's Basketball Championship Tournament is hosted by LeTourneau University and will be played February 23-25th at the Solheim Center in Longview.