ABILENE, Texas –The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men's basketball team mounted a late comeback against Hardin-Simmons University Saturday afternoon in Abilene, but fell just short taking an 80-77 loss. The Cowboys improved to 9-1 overall and 5-0 in American Southwest Conference action with the win while the Cru fell to 5-1 overall and 2-1 in league play.
 
Hardin-Simmons opened the game with a 9-2 run and held a lead until halfway through the half when the Cru evened the contest at 14 off a jumper from Luke Feely. The Cowboys took another lead and stayed ahead, taking a 33-28 lead into halftime. Feely and Josiah Johnson led the Cru with 10 points each in the first half while Feely brought down a team-high five rebounds.
 
UMHB tied the contest at 34 with 17:38 left in the second half then took a two-point lead at the 17:21 mark. Hardin-Simmons responded with a three-pointer to go ahead by one point and led by as many as seven in the final 40 seconds of action. Josiah Johnson scored six points in 12 seconds to cut the lead to just two with 21 seconds of action remaining. Kaleb Favors went 1-for-1 in foul shots with 14 seconds left before the Cowboys forced a late turnover, sealing the 80-77 win for Hardin-Simmons.
 
Josiah Johnson finished with 36 points and eight rebounds for the Cru. Johnson went 12-for-19 from the field and 4-for-8 from beyond the arc. Luke Feely recorded his first double-double of the season with 14 points and 10 rebounds while Ty Prince also added 14 points. UMHB shot 44.6% in the contest, totaling 34 rebounds, 11 steals and four blocks.
 
UMHB returns to action on Thursday, December 17^th in a 7:30 p.m. contest against the University of Texas at Dallas in the Mayborn Campus Center in Belton.