BELTON, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men's basketball team dominated the second half and the Cru clinched the outright American Southwest Conference West Division title with an 87-59 win over Howard Payne Saturday in Belton. UMHB closes out the regular season at 20-5 overall and 11-5 in the ASC. The loss ends the Yellow Jackets year at 4-21 overall and 2-14 in the ASC.
 
Howard Payne grabbed a 19-11 lead early in the first half, but UMHB answered with a 10-0 run to retake the lead. The two teams traded the lead before the Cru took a 33-31 lead into halftime. It would be 37-35 UMHB three minutes into the second half before the Cru took control. A 14-4 run pushed the lead out to 12 points and UMHB's advantage grew to 20 points at the midway point of the half. The Yellow Jackets never got closer than 15 points the rest of the way.
 
Sam Moore led the Cru with 23 points off the bench. Brian Long added 20 points and LaKendric Hyson had 19 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. UMHB shot 56 percent as a team in the second half and finished at 53 percent from the field as a team. The Cru forced 14 turnovers and only gave the ball away eight times in the win.
 
Colton Otts led the Yellow Jackets with 12 points. Timothy Aguero added 11 points and Shadd Cole had 10 points and 10 rebounds. HPU shot just 39 percent from the field and only took six free-throws while playing a deliberate pace to slow down the game. Both teams finished with 37 rebounds on the day.
 
The Cru also clinches a #1 seed in the ASC Championship Tournament with the win. UMHB will face East Division #4 seed East Texas Baptist in a Quarterfinal Game on Thursday at 2:30 pm in Richardson. Saturday's game was the final home game for Cru seniors Hyson, Mike Davis, Demarius Cress, Long and Shaqur Martin.