Belton, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men's basketball team will close out the 2013-14 regular season with a pair of crucial American Southwest Conference home games this week. The Cru will host Hardin-Simmons University for a 7:30 PM tip-off on Thursday before closing out the week with a 3:00 PM start against U.T.-Dallas on Saturday. The UMHB men have already clinched a berth in the ASC Championship Tournament, but seeding will be on the line for the Cru with this week's games.
The Cru men are 15-8 overall and are tied for third in the ASC with Concordia Texas at 13-7 in league play. UMHB has won six straight games entering this week's action, but lost road games to each of this week's opponents earlier this season. The Cru fell to Hardin-Simmons 76-72 in Abilene and dropped a 70-58 decision to U.T.-Dallas in Richardson.
James Allen leads the Cru in scoring at 18.3 points per game and
Jerard Graham (16.0),
Antonie Chaney (13.4) and
Kitrick Bell (11.8) are also averaging in double figures. Graham grabs a team-best 9.0 rebounds per game and Bell averages 7.8 boards per contest. The Cru is averaging 75.1 points per game and is holding opponents to 40.5% shooting from the field on the season.
Hardin-Simmons will enter Thursday night's game with a 16-7 overall record and have locked up a #2 seed in the ASC Tournament with a 16-4 mark in ASC play. The Cowboys have won ten straight games and lead the conference in three-pointers made per game and in blocked shots. Derrick Jefferson is the team's leading scorer at 17.7 points per game and two others also average in double figures. Jefferson is also the team's leading rebounder and Mawen Maywin leads the conference with 66 blocked shots on the season. The Cowboys are scoring 77.0 points per game and average 8.6 three-pointers per contests as a team.
U.T.-Dallas will open the week with a Thursday night game at Concordia Texas in Austin. The Comets are 21-2 overall entering the week and have already clinched the ASC regular season title with a 19-1 league record. UTD leads the conference in scoring defense and has the league's best shooting percentages. Kyle Schleigh leads the Comets in scoring and rebounding at 15.9 points and 8.7 rebounds per game and he is the school's all-time leading scorer. Three other players are also averaging double figures in scoring and seven players average 19 minutes or more per game. The Comets are holding opponents to 62.5 points per game and shoot 49 percent from the field as a team.
UMHB will provide free live video and live statistics for both games through the following link:
http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/umhb.portal. The Cru could be seeded third, fourth or fifth in the ASC Tournament depending on the outcome of this week's games. U.T.-Dallas has clinched the ASC regular season title and the right to host the conference tournament. The ASC Championship Tournament bracket will be released next Tuesday, February 25
th.
