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Belton, TX – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men's basketball team opened up a double-digit lead and then held off a LeTourneau comeback as the Cru posted a 77-71 victory over the Yellow Jackets Thursday night in Belton. The UMHB men snap a two-game losing streak and improve to 2-2 overall and 1-2 in American Southwest Conference play with the victory. The loss drops LeTourneau to 1-4 overall and 1-2 in the ASC on the year.
The Cru scored the game's first five points before LeTourneau battled back in the first half. UMHB closed the half with a 12-2 run to take a 35-26 halftime lead. The Cru led by as many as 12 points in the second half and held a 66-56 lead with 4:17 left. LeTourneau closed to within six points twice before UMHB stretched it back to a 10-point lead at 72-62 with 1:45 remaining. The Yellow Jackets would get six points from J.J. Rockmore and a three-pointer from Dale Vanwright to close to 75-71 with 15 seconds left, but the Cru sandwiched free-throws from
Zane Johnston and Dean Pele around a missed LeTourneau three-pointer to ice the game.
Pele finished with 16 points and he went 4-7 from three-point range. Sterling Phillips added 15 points for the Cru on a 7-8 shooting night. Theo Ard just missed a double-double with nine points and a game-high 11 rebounds and 11 different UMHB players scored in the game. Vanwright topped all scorers with 29 points for LeTourneau. Rockmore added 19 points, five rebounds and five assists in the game for the Yellow Jackets.
The Cru shot 64 per cent from the field in the second half and hit 55 per cent for the game. The Cru out rebounded LeTourneau 36-30 and held the Jackets to 24 per cent shooting from three-point range. The UMHB men turned the ball over 25 times, but shot 33 free-throws compared to 14 for the Yellow Jackets.
The Cru men will continue their home stand with a 7:30 PM tip-off against East Texas Baptist University on Saturday. The UMHB men will then take on Concordia Texas and U.T.-Tyler next week before a two week break from games for the Christmas holiday.
