Box Score
Belton, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men's basketball team took control of the game with an offensive spurt midway through the first half and cruised to a 95-77 victory over University of the Ozarks Saturday afternoon in Belton. The Cru improves to 8-5 overall and 6-4 in American Southwest Conference play with the victory. The loss drops the Eagles to 4-8 overall and 2-7 in the ASC on the season.
Ozarks jumped out to a 6-2 lead to start the game, but
Antonie Chaney's three-pointer and
Kitrick Bell's jumper made it 7-6 UMHB.
James Allen added a lay-in for the Cru before Josh Ferrell tied the game at nine with a three-pointer for the Eagles. UMHB responded with a 9-2 run to grab an 18-11 lead and stretched it into double figures at 23-13 with 9:23 remaining in the first half. The Cru would hold a 44-26 lead at halftime. Ozarks would close to within 11 points on several occasions in the second half, but never could cut the gap to single digits. UMHB started to pull away again and led by as many as 25 points in the late going before the Eagles cut it to the final margin.
Bell had a huge game for the Cru, posting a double-double with 16 rebounds and a game-high 25 points. Allen added 21 points, six rebounds and five assists and
Jerard Graham added a double-double of his own with 20 points and 16 boards to go with six assists. Chaney also reached double figures for UMHB with 13 points. The Cru shot 50 percent from the field as a team and out rebounded Ozarks 45-32 in the victory.
Ted Beard topped the Eagles with 21 points and he added seven rebounds. Kelby Robinson chipped in 13 points and Ricky Allen came off the bench to score 12 more. Ozarks shot 56 percent from the field in the second half, but finished the game at 45 percent. The Eagles shot just 30 percent from three-point range in the loss.
The Cru will now hit the road for a four-game ASC road swing. That road trip starts with a 7:30 PM tip-off against ASC leader U.T.-Dallas next Thursday night in Richardson. UMHB will then face Hardin-Simmons University in a 3:00 PM start next Saturday in Abilene.
