Mary Haridin-Baylor Athletics

Box Score

Belton, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men's basketball team rallied to within two points of the lead in the second half, but could not overtake St. Edward's in an 85-78 loss in exhibition play Saturday night in Belton. St. Edward's is an NCAA Division II program that returns four starters from a team that went 22-8 last season. Exhibition games do not count in a team's win-loss record.

UMHB kept it close through the early going of the first half as the Cru hit its first four three-pointers. The Hilltoppers matched that hot outside shooting to open up as much as a 13-point lead before settling for a 45-35 edge at halftime. The lead would grow to as many as 15 points before UMHB started to chip away. The Cru used a 9-0 run to cut the gap to 54-48 with 13:12 remaining. After a St. Edward's basket made it 56-48, Russell Green hit a free throw, Shon Lewis hit three freebies and Sidney Deloach added a lay-up to pull UMHB to within two points at 56-54. The two teams traded three-pointers before the Hilltoppers used 7-0 run to push the lead to nine points. UMHB would get back to within five points, but that's as close as it would get down the stretch.

Green led UMHB with 17 points on 5-7 shooting from the field. Lewis added 12 points off the bench and hit 3-4 from beyond the arc. Justin Gammill added a double-double with 10 points and a game-high 11 rebounds for the Cru. UMHB went 12-22 from three-point range and shot 45 percent overall as a team. The Cru out rebounded St. Edward's 39-37 but UMHB committed 24 turnovers in the game.

Ramir Burton and Quinton Lilley led a balanced Hilltopper attack with 16 points apiece. John Gramlich had 13 points and Frankie Mgbolu and Aubrie King chipped in 12 points apiece. Trey Lindsey had a team-high nine rebounds and added nine points. St. Edward's shot 43 percent from the field and hit 39 percent from three-point range in the victory.