BELTON, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men's basketball team broke open a tight game midway through the first half and the Cru never looked back on the way to its 12^th straight victory in a 95-71 win over Sul Ross State Thursday night in Belton. UMHB improves to 15-3 overall and 12-0 in American Southwest Conference play with the victory. The loss drops the Lobos to 9-10 overall and 7-7 in the ASC on the year.
 
Sul Ross scored the first five points of the game and it was tied at 18 with 12:26 left in the first half. UMHB erupted for a 21-7 lead to open up a 14-point advantage just over eight minutes later and seemed to take control of the game. The Lobos would close to within 43-36 at halftime. Sul Ross scored the opening points of the second half to cut the lead to five, bur the Cru responded with a quick 9-0 burst to push the lead back out to 15 points. UMHB's advantage would eventually grow to as many as 29 points as the Cru pulled away for the win.
 
Josiah Johnson had a game-high 25 points to lead the Cru and he also pulled down 10 rebounds. Ty Prince had 19 points and 14 boards, Carson Hammond scored 16 points and Gibson Hearne chipped in 13. Aedan Welch also reached double figures in rebounds with 10 for UMHB. The Cru shot 48 percent from the field as a team and was 15-42 on three-pointers. UMHB also won the rebounding battle 50-36.
 
Trey Nelson had 16 points to top the Lobos and Julian Paredes added 14 points. Omar Boone came off the bench to score 10 points. Sul Ross shot 36 percent from the field and was 9-27 from beyond the arc. The Lobos also committed 18 turnovers on the night.
 
The Cru will close out the regular season with a 3 pm home game against Howard Payne on Saturday. UMHB has already clinched the ASC West Division title and will host an ASC Championship Tournament First Round Game next Wednesday. The remaining seeds and opponents for the tournament will be determined following Saturday's games.