Box Score Clarksville, AR – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men's basketball team grabbed the lead midway through the second half and then held off Ozarks comeback bid as the Cru posted a 70-65 victory over the Eagles Thursday night in Clarksville, Arkansas. UMHB improves to 14-8 overall and 12-7 in American Southwest Conference play with the victory. The Cru has won five consecutive games. The loss drops Ozarks to 7-15 overall and 5-14 in the ASC on the year.
Ozarks roared out to a 17-5 lead in the early going of the first half and led 31-25 with 2:57 left in the half. The Cru closed the first half with a 6-0 run to tie it at 31 going into the break.
James Allen's three-pointer opened the second half scoring to give UMHB its first lead since 4-2. The Cru would build a nine-point lead at 62-53 with 5:59 left to play, but Ozarks used a 7-0 run to close to 62-60, but
Kitrick Bell converted a three-point play to make it a five-point game. The Eagles closed to within two twice more, but lay-ups from Allen and
Jerard Graham answered each time and Ozarks went scoreless in the final 2:11 of the game as the Cru held on for the win.
Graham led UMHB with 22 points and 13 rebounds and Bell also posted a double-double with 13 points and ten boards. Allen scored 14 points and
Antonie Chaney totaled 11 for the Cru. UMHB shot just 42 percent from the field and went 4-19 from three-point range. The Cru out rebounded the Eagles 43-29 and pulled down 13 offensive rebounds in the win.
Ricky Allen led Ozarks with 13 points, but he was just 3-11 from the field. Josh Ferrell had 11 points and Kelby Robinson scored 10 for the Eagles. Ozarks shot just 38 percent from the field and went 5-20 from beyond the arc in the loss.
The Cru men will close out their road trip with a 3:00 PM tip-off at U.T.-Tyler on Saturday. The Patriots are tied with UMHB for fourth place in the ASC with three games remaining in the regular season. The Cru will close out the regular season with home games against Hardin-Simmons and U.T.-Dallas next week at the Mayborn Campus Center.
