Box Score Box Score
Abilene, TX— The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men's basketball team mounted a furious second-half comeback for the second straight game, but this time the rally fell just short in a 75-71 loss to McMurry University Saturday afternoon in Abilene. The 6
th-ranked Cru falls to 16-1 overall and 12-1 in American Southwest Conference play with the loss. The season-opening, 16-game winning streak for UMHB is the second longest winning streak in the history of the Cru men's basketball program. The War Hawks improve to 12-4 overall and 8-4 in the ASC with the victory.
McMurry opened the game with a 16-3 run and led 24-7 just 8:16 into the contest. UMHB pulled to within six points late in the first half, but the War Hawks led 43-33 at halftime.
Marlon Miller opened the second half scoring with a three-pointer to pull the Cru to within seven, but an 8-0 McMurry run pushed the lead back to 15 points. The War Hawks led 67-53 with 4:00 remaining before UMHB started to chip away.
Thomas Orr cut the gap to 72-68 with a pair of free throws with 41 seconds left. Jaden Isler hit 1-4 free-throws to make it 73-68, but a
Brian Todd lay-in pulled the Cru to within 73-70 with 19 seconds to play. Bryant Taylor hit two free throws with 17 seconds on the clock to push the lead to 75-70 and UMHB could only add an Orr free throw in the final seconds.
Marlon Miller led the Cru with 19 points before fouling out of the game. Orr added 15 points off the bench.
Damian Davis pulled down a team-best seven rebounds for UMHB. The Cru shot just 41 percent from the field and was only 5-22 from three-point range. The Cru was 18-28 from the free-throw line.
Bryce Hill topped McMurry with 20 points off the bench and he hit 5-8 from three-point range. Steven Jones added 17 points and 10 rebounds for the War Hawks. Dominick Walker grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds as McMurry out rebounded UMHB 55-32 in the game. The War Hawks shot 41 percent from the floor but went 9-18 from beyond the arc in the victory.
The Cru will now return home for a pair of ASC West Division games next week. UMHB will host Howard Payne for a 7:30 PM tip-off on Thursday before closing out the week with a 3:00 PM start against Sul Ross State next Saturday.
