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BELTON, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men's basketball slowly pulled away midway through the opening half and never let McMurry get back into the game as the cru rolled to a 104-74 win over the War Hawks Thursday night in Belton. UMHB improved to 8-3 overall and 5-0 in American Southwest Conference play with its fifth consecutive victory. The loss drops McMurry to 1-9 overall and 1-5 in the ASC on the season.
 
McMurry led 25-22 with 7:59 left in the first half before Byrale Carter hit a jumper and Josiah Johnson followed with a three-pointer to give the Cru a 27-25 lead. Those baskets sparked a 17-2 run that saw UMHB push the lead out to 12 points at 39-27 with 3:27 left in the opening half. That lead would eventually grow to 14 points at the half. The Cru never let the War Hawks get closer than 13 points in the second half as UMHB shot 50 percent from the field as a team and pulled away for the win.
 
Johnson topped the Cru with 33 points on 10-17 shooting from the field. He added 11 rebounds and eight assists. Ty Prince had a career-high 23 points for UMHB and Kyle Wright came off the bench to add 12 points. Eleven different players scored for the Cru and the team shot just under 51 percent for the game as a team. UMHB finished 15-38 on three-pointers and held a slight rebounding edge at 45-44 on the night.
 
D.J. Worrell led the War Hawks with 20 points, Matt Pena had 19 and Remy Minor scored 17 more. McMurry shot just 29 percent as a team in the opening half and finished at 39 percent for the game. The War Hawks were 8-28 from beyond the arc and just 12-20 from the free-throw line in the loss.
 
The two teams were squaring off for the second time in a six-day span. The Cru will wrap up its brief home stand with a 3 pm tip-off against Hardin-Simmons University Saturday at the Mayborn Campus Center.