Tyler, Texas – One on a night when both teams were hitting shots at a red-hot pace, U.T.-Tyler had one more shot than the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men's basketball team did in a 95-93 victory over the Cru Saturday afternoon in Tyler. The Patriots improve to 7-2 overall and 2-2 in American Southwest Conference play with the win. The loss drops the Cru to 7-4 overall and 2-3 in the ASC and snaps UMHB's three-game win streak.

UMHB trailed by as many as 11 points late in the first half before fighting back to within 48-46 at halftime. The second half featured 11 ties and 12 lead changes as the two teams put on a shooting clinic. The Cru took a 91-90 lead on LaKendric Hyson's three-pointer with 2:13 remaining. Josh Tatum tied the game with a free throw for U.T.-Tyler and UMHB turned the ball over on its ensuing possession. Melvin Anthony buried a three-pointer from the far corner to give the Patriots a 94-91 lead with 1:01 left to play. Brian Long's lay-up pulled UMHB to within one point at 94-93 with 41 seconds to go. The Patriots turned the ball over to set up the UMHB offense, but the Cru was called for a travel in the lane with just seven seconds on the clock. Cameron Frank hit one of his two free throws to make it 95-93 U.T.-Tyler and the Cru lost possession of the ball on the final possession without getting up a shot before the buzzer sounded.

Sam Moore had 25 points lead UMHB and Demarius Cress added 20 points and eight assists. Hyson had 19 points and Long scored 17 more on 7-9 shooting from the field. Justin Gammill had a team-best seven rebounds. The Cru shot 54 percent from the field in the first half and hit 51 percent for the game. UMHB also committed just five turnovers. Both teams finished with 28 rebounds.

Anthony had a game-high 30 points on 6-7 shooting from beyond the arc to lead the Patriots and he grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds. Johnell Lane was 6-9 from long range to finish with 20 points and three other U.T.-Tyler players also reached double figures in scoring. The Patriots shot 58 percent from the field in the game and were 5-7 from three-point range in the second half. U.T.-Tyler hit 15-24 three-pointers for the game to finish at 63 percent as a team.  

This was the final game for the UMHB men before the Christmas break. The Cru return to action with the four-team Cru Classic at the Mayborn Campus Center on December 28^th and 29^th. Games will start at 3:00 PM and 5:00 PM both days with UMHB playing the late game each evening.