Box Score Box Score
Click
here to watch an interview with UMHB's
Dean Pele.
Richardson, TX – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men's basketball team erased a big first-half deficit and pulled away late in the game as the Cru posted a 77-69 victory over U.T.-Dallas in an American Southwest Conference Championship Tournament semifinal Saturday in Richardson. The Cru men improve to 21-6 on the year with the victory and UMHB will play in the ASC title game for the third time in the last four seasons. U.T.-Dallas ends the regular season with a 21-6 record and will have to hope for an at-large bid to the NCAA Division III National Championships.
U.T.-Dallas controlled the early going and jumped out to a 13-2 lead to start the game. The Comets would still hold a double-digit lead at 41-29 with 2:11 remaining in the first half. The Cru would score the final four points of the half to cut it to 41-33 at the break. UMHB would continue that hot streak into the second half as
Dean Pele sandwiched a pair of three-pointers around two
Marlon Miller baskets as the Cru tied the game at 43 with a 10-2 run to open the second half. UTD would quickly grab a nine-point lead at 57-48 before the Cru answered with a 17-1 run to take a 65-58 lead with 5:09 left to play.
James Allen hit a pair of three-pointers during that run and Miller added four points during the stretch. UTD would not get closer than four points the rest of the way as the Cru iced the game from the free-throw line to punch its ticket to the tournament championship game.
Pele finished with 21 points and he hit 6-9 from three-point range. Miller added 20 points for the Cru and
Kitrick Bell and Allen had nine points apiece. Bell and
Robert Moore each pulled down six rebounds to lead UMHB on the boards. The Cru shot 52 percent from the field in the second half and went 6-12 from three-point range in the second.
Chris Barnes led U.T.-Dallas with 16 points. Kyle Schleigh and Curtis Davis added 12 points apiece for the Comets and Brandon Greene also reached double figures with 10 points. Schleigh also grabbed a game-high seven rebounds.
The Cru finished the game 10-19 from beyond the arc and UMHB shot 49 percent from the floor. The Cru also went 15-23 from the free-throw line and out rebounding UTD 35-27. The Comets shot 44 percent from the field and went 11-24 from three-point land.
UMHB will now face McMurry University in the ASC Championship Game at 2:00 PM on Sunday. McMurry advanced to the finals with a 74-55 semifinal victory over Hardin-Simmons University. The two teams split a pair of hotly contested regular season games. The Cru posted a 66-64 win over McMurry in Belton with McMurry taking a 65-62 decision in the meeting in Abilene. The ASC Tournament champion will claim the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III National Championships.
The UMHB athletic department will offer live audio streaming through the department's web site at
www.cruathletics.com. Tournament host U.T.-Dallas will also provide live video streaming and live statistics of the game through the school's web site. You can also find those links on the UMHB athletic department web site at
www.cruathletics.com.
