Click
here for the tournament bracket in PDF.
Click
here for All-Time ASC Tournament records.
Click
here for the full ASC release.
Belton, TX – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men's basketball team will begin defense of its American Southwest Conference championship when the Cru advances to the ASC Championship Tournament this weekend in Richardson. The UMHB men are the #2 seed from the ASC West Division and have now qualified for 12 of the 13 ASC Tournaments, although the Cru chose to participate in the NAIA Postseason instead following the 1998-1999 season.
The UMHB men will enter the tournament with a 19-6 overall record and the Cru men went 15-6 in ASC play. UMHB will open the tournament with a 5:00 PM first-round game against ASC East Division #3 seed U.T.-Tyler (12-13). The winner of that game will move into a 4:30 semifinal game on Saturday against the winner of the U.T-Dallas (20-5, East Division #1 seed) vs. Concordia Texas (15-10, West Division #4 seed) first-round game. The other side of the bracket will see McMurry University (18-7, West Division #1 seed) taking on Mississippi College (13-12, East Division #4 seed) at 12:00 on Friday and East Texas Baptist (17-8, East Division #2 seed) facing West Division #3 seed Hardin-Simmons University (16-9) at 2:30 PM. The first semifinal game will be played at 2:00 PM on Saturday with the two semifinal winners meeting in the ASC Championship game at 2:00 PM on Sunday. The ASC Tournament champion will receive the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III National Championships.
UMHB rolled to an 83-55 victory over U.T.-Tyler in the regular season meeting between the two teams in Belton on December 4
th. The Cru opened that game with a 27-8 run and led by 17 at halftime. The Patriots closed to within eight points in the second half, but UMHB closed the game with a 30-10 run to put it out of reach.
Robert Moore led UMHB with 21 points and
Greg Wiernas added 11 points and a game-high nine rebounds. Lance Murphy came off the bench to top U.T.-Tyler with 13 points. The Cru shot 52 percent from the field and held the Patriots to 37 percent shooting in the game. UMHB also out rebounded U.T.-Tyler 41-28 and forced 20 turnovers in the victory.
The Cru men are 7-4 against the rest of the ASC Tournament field this season. UMHB posted regular season victories over McMurry University, Hardin-Simmons, Concordia Texas, East Texas Baptist, U.T.-Dallas, U.T.-Tyler and Mississippi College. The Cru lost regular season games to McMurry, Hardin-Simmons, Concordia and ETBU.
The UMHB men won the ASC Championship in 2010 and 2008 and the Cru has advanced to the NCAA Division III National Championships in three of the last four seasons. UMHB has advanced to at least the semifinals of the ASC Championship Tournament in five straight tournament appearances. Cru junior guard
Sterling Phillips was MVP of the 2010 ASC Men's Basketball Tournament and he is one of just two returning All-Tournament team members active in this year's tournament. The host school has won the last four ASC Men's Basketball Tournaments.
All of the ASC Tournament games will be played at the UTD Activity Center in Richardson, Texas. Tickets are $6 for adults and $4 for students each day. There are no tournament passes and there are no complimentary tickets for ASC Championship events. UMHB is still finalizing plans to broadcast the ASC Men's Basketball Tournament. Be sure to check back to the UMHB athletic department web site at
www.cruathletics.com for updates. U.T.-Dallas will provide free live streaming video of all of the ASC Tournament games through the Comets athletic department web site at
http://cometsports.utdallas.edu/. Live stats should also be available through the tournament web site. The ASC will also offer full Men's Basketball Tournament coverage through a Tournament Central Page on the conference's web site at
www.ascsports.org.
