Box Score Box Score
Abilene, TX – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men's basketball team never recovered from a 14-1 Hardin-Simmons run at the end of the first half and the Cowboys pulled away late in the second half for a 78-59 victory over the Cru Thursday night in Abilene. The loss drops the Cru to 17-5 overall and 13-5 in American Southwest Conference play and knocks UMHB out of sole possession of first place in the ASC West. Hardin-Simmons improves to 14-8 overall and 13-5 in the ASC and moves into a tie with the Cru for first place.
UMHB would jump out to early leads at 7-3 and 16-9 and the Cru would still hold a 26-21 edge with 3:58 left in the first half. But the Cowboys closed the half with a 14-1 run and took a 35-27 lead into the locker room at halftime. UMHB would close to within two points early in the second half at 39-37, but HSU scored the next four points and stretched the lead to 20 points at 68-48 as the Cru went cold from the field. UMHB would not get closer than 14 points the rest of the way as the Cowboys snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Cru.
Marlon Miller and
Dean Pele led UMHB with 13 points apiece.
Robert Moore added a team-high eight rebounds as the Cru was held to its lowest point total since following to Texas Lutheran 56-53 on January 15
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Matt Addison led Hardin-Simmons with 29 points as he went 11-13 from the free-throw line. Derrick Jefferson added 19 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. Terrance Booker also reached double figures with 10 points for HSU.
The Cru shot just 29 per cent from the field in the second half and 37 per cent for the game. UMHB was also just 1-14 from three-point range and only hit 16-29 from the free-throw line. HSU hit 49 per cent from the field in the game and scored 20 points off 16 UMHB turnovers.
UMHB will conclude its swing through Abilene with a 3:00 PM tip-off against McMurry University on Saturday. The Cru will then face Schreiner University and Texas Lutheran University next week to close out the regular season.
