Box Score
Belton, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men's basketball team clawed back from a double-digit second-half deficit, but the Cru had no answer for U.T.-Tyler's red-hot three-point shooting in a 95-91 loss to the Patriots Thursday night in Belton. The loss drops the UMHB men to 7-5 overall and 5-4 in American Southwest Conference play on the season. U.T.-Tyler improves to 7-5 overall and 6-3 in the ASC on the season with the victory.
The Cru built a seven-point first half lead at 36-29 with 3:29 left in the first half. The Patriots responded with an 11-0 run to take the lead and closed out the half with a 15-4 stretch to grab a 44-40 lead at the break. U.T.-Tyler would take the lead to as many as 13 points in the second half and still led 76-66 with 8:53 remaining in the game before UMHB started to chip away.
Jerard Graham's steal and lay-in cut the lead to 79-78 with 5:18 left to play. The Patriots pulled out to a four-point lead before
Antonie Chaney converted a three-point play and then added another free throw to tie the game at 86 with 1:57 to go. Joe Stephens drilled a three-pointer two possessions later to give U.T.-Tyler an 89-86 edge.
James Allen cut it to 89-88 with a pair of free throws with 40 seconds on the clock but the Cru could not get closer than two points from there as the Patriots iced the game on six Chris Rios free throws in the final 38 seconds.
Allen and
Kitrick Bell led UMHB with 20 points and Chaney added 19, with 15 of those coming in the second half. Graham added 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Cru. UMHB shot 54 percent from the field in the second half and finished at 44 percent for the game. The Cru out rebounded the Patriots 45-30, but went just 5-16 from three-point range.
Stephens led a balanced scoring attack for U.T.-Tyler with 20 points and he hit 6-11 from beyond the arc. Rios added 18 points off the bench and Travis Dykman and Bryce Kemp chipped in 16 points apiece. The Patriots shot 15-32 from three-point range and hit 55 percent overall from the field in the victory.
UMHB will close out its three-game home stand with a 3:00 PM tip-off against University of the Ozarks on Saturday. The Cru will then head back out on the road for its next four games.
