Box Score
Kerrville, TX – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men's basketball team build a double-digit lead and then held off Schreiner's furious comeback bid as the Cru posted a 77-67 victory over the Mountaineers Saturday afternoon in Kerrville. The UMHB men improve to 17-6 overall and 15-4 in American Southwest Conference play with the victory. The Cru also maintains its one-game lead in the ASC West Division with the victory. The loss drops Schreiner to 4-19 overall and 4-15 in the ASC on the season.
The Cru took control early in the first half, building a 23-11 lead by the 8:04 mark. The lead would grow to as many as 17 and UMHB held a 38-27 lead at halftime. The double digits leads would last into the second half and the Cru was up 71-58 with 4:58 remaining in the game. Then Schreiner started to storm back into the game. The Mountaineers would use a 9-0 run to cut the lead to 71-67 with 1:15 left to play. The UMHB defense would stiffen from there and the Cru went 6-6 from the free-throw line down the stretch to ice the victory.
Theo Ard finished with 21 points and seven rebounds for the Cru. Sterling Phillips added 15 points and Dean Pele came off the bench to add 12 points and a game-high nine rebounds for UMHB. Mark Hopkins led Schreiner with 16 points off the bench. Tyrie Prince had 14 points, Trevor Conner added 12 points and eight rebounds and Javian Johnson chipped in with 10 points for the Mountaineers.
UMHB shot just 39 per cent from the field in the first half and the Cru finished the game at 43 per cent. UMHB was just 2-12 from three-point range, but the Cru did out rebounded Schreiner 40-37. The Mountaineers shot 36 per cent from the field, but went 8-14 from three-point range.
The Cru men will now hit the road to close out the regular season with a pair of games next week. UMHB will open the week with a 7:30 PM tip-off at Sul Ross State University on Thursday in Alpine. The Cru will close out the regular season with a 3:00 PM start at Howard Payne University Saturday in Brownwood. UMHB needs to win one of those games to clinch at least a share of the ASC West Division title and earn the Division's #1 seed to the ASC Championship Tournament. A win would also guarantee the Cru the right to host the ASC Tournament for the second time in the last three years.
