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Click
here to watch postgame comments from head coach
Ken DeWeese.
Click
here to watch postgame comments from Cru guard
Dean Pele.
Rock Island, IL – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men's basketball team could not overcome a cold-shooting night and Augustana's run to open the second half as the Cru fell to the Vikings 70-57 in an NCAA Division III Sweet 16 game Friday night in Rock Island, Illinois. The loss ends UMHB's season at 23-8 overall. Augustana improves to 27-3 on the year and advance to tomorrow's Sectional Championship Game against St. Thomas (MN) with a berth in the Final Four on the line.
The first half was a see-saw affair that featured four lead changes and five ties. Augustana opened the game with a 5-0 run before the Cru fought back to take its first lead of the game at 8-7. The Cru would build its largest lead of the game at 13-9 before the Vikings made another run to retake the lead. The game would be tied at 22 before Augustana used a 7-0 run to take its largest lead of the first half at 29-22. The Cru would fight back to within three before Augustana pushed it back to seven points at halftime at 37-30.
UMHB shot just 10-30 from the field in the first half and was out rebounded 22-17. Augustana hit 42 percent from the field and hit twice as many free0-throws as the Cru in the first half.
UMHB fell behind by 17 points as Augustana opened the second half with a 16-6 run to push the lead to 53-36. The Vikings would take a 58-38 lead with 10:40 remaining before UMHB once again started to chip away.
James Allen hit two free-throws to cut the lead to 10 points at 62-52 with 4:43 left to play and the Cru would have two chances to cut the lead to single digits, but could not convert. Augustana would push the lead back to 15 points in the final minutes before settling for the 13-point lead.
Robert Moore led UMHB with 18 points, hitting 4-6 from three-point range and he also pulled down six rebounds.
Marlon Miller added 11 points, eight of them in the second half and Allen also reached double figures with 10 points.
Brian Todd had a team-high seven rebounds for the Cru.
Bryant Voiles led Augustana with 14 points and nine rebounds and he was 4-4 from three-point range. Kyle Nelson and Chris Anderson added 12 points apiece and Brian DeSimone also reached double figures with 10 points for the Vikings.
UMHB finished at just 29 percent shooting from the field and the Cru hit just 5-17 from three-point range. UMHB was out rebounded 47-35 in the loss. Augustana hit 40 percent from the field and 6-15 from beyond the arc. The Vikings were 22-29 from the free-throw line compared to 16-22 for the Cru.
“We just didn't make shots, we've had three or four games like that this season and we lost to lesser teams in our conference,” Cru head coach
Ken DeWeese said. “We had open looks and just missed them, we seemed nervous or we pushed shots. Their size hurt us on shots around the basket, no question, and the combination of those two things certainly took us out of our rhythm.”
The Cru advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 for the first time in school history and the 31 games are also the most UMHB has played in a season since moving to NCAA Division III. Friday's loss closes out the careers of two UMHB seniors,
Dean Pele and
Colby Waller. The Cru has now advanced to the NCAA Division III National Championships four times in the last five seasons.
