Georgetown, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men's basketball team erased the memories of Saturday night's cold shooting by hitting 56 percent from the field as the Cru topped Southwestern University 89-77 Monday night in Georgetown. UMHB improves to 4-1 with the victory. The loss drops the Pirates to 2-3 on the year. 

The Cru shot 52 percent from the field in the first half but could not pull away as Southwestern hit 50 percent. UMHB would lead by as many as seven points before the Pirates closed to within 40-36 at the half. There were six ties and eight lead changes in that first half. Southwestern pulled to within one point on two occasions early in the second half, but the Cru put together an 11-2 run to push the lead into double digits. The lead would grow to as many as 17 points before a Pirate run cut the gap to 79-73 with 3:00 remaining in the game. UMHB scored the next seven points to grab control of the game and never looked back on the way to the victory. The Cru shot 62 percent from the field in the second half and made 14 free-throws in the final 20 minutes compared to five made free throws by the Pirates.

LaKendric Hyson led UMHB with 20 points and he added five steals. Demarius Cress scored 17 points and Sam Moore chipped in 15 more off the bench. DeTron Fuller scored 11 points in his first start of the season and Justin Gammill had a double-double with 10 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. The Cru shot 56 percent overall and finished 17-26 from the free-throw line. UMHB hit six three-pointers after going just 2-23 from long range in Saturday night's loss to Trinity. The Cru out rebounded the Pirates 31-29 in the win.

Luke Hicks led Southwestern with 15 points and Ryan Ogden and Brandon Alexander scored 12 points apiece. Ryan Wheeler also reached double figures with 11 points. The Pirates shot 51 percent from the floor as a team, but went just 8-11 from the free-throw line in the loss.

The Cru will return to action with the start of American Southwest Conference play later this week. UMHB will take on LeTourneau University in a 7:30 PM start Thursday in Longview. The Cru will then close out the week with a 4:00 PM tip at East Texas Baptist Saturday in Marshall.