BELTON, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men's basketball team held on to a late lead to advance to the semifinal round of the American Southwest Conference Men's Basketball Championship Tournament with an 87-82 win over Concordia University Texas Thursday evening in Belton.
 
Ty Prince opened a 7-0 run for the Cru with a three-pointer at the 3:58 mark. Concordia cut that lead to four but back-to-back steals from the Cru gave UMHB a nine-point advantage in the final two minutes of first-half action. UMHB held on to that lead, going into halftime with a 47-38 advantage. Nathan Stolz led the Cru with 10 points in the first half, followed by Ty Prince with nine and Kyle Wright with eight.
 
UMHB led by as many as 19 points early in the second half but the Tornados chipped away, cutting the lead to four with 5:58 left in the half. Donovan Stafford hit a jumper for CTX at 3:11, tying the contest at 78. Ty Prince grabbed an offensive rebound at 2:27, making a jumper and hitting the ensuing foul shot to put the Cru up by three. Kyle Wright followed that with a pair of free throws and a jumper to give UMHB a seven-point cushion.  Luis Gonzales cut the lead to three with a pair of foul shots at 0:44. Wright grabbed a big offensive rebound with 10.1 seconds left and Gibson Hearne followed that with two points at the free throw line to go ahead by five. D.J. Kane sealed the win with a defensive rebound in the final second, giving the Cru an 87-82 win.
 
Ty Prince led the Cru with 22 points followed by Nathan Stolz with 19 and Kyle Wright with 17. Stolz was also the Cru's leading rebounder with eight boards, followed by Prince with five. Prince led UMHB with seven assists while Josiah Johnson and Wright each added four steals. UMHB shot 53.3 percent in the contest and 40.9 percent from beyond the arc. The Cru totaled 32 points off the bench with 23 points off turnovers and 14 second-chance points.
 
UMHB advances to the semifinal round of the ASC Men's Basketball Championship Tournament and will face UT Dallas on Friday, February 25^th at 7:30 p.m. The winner of that contest will advance to face the winner of Hardin-Simmons/LeTourneau in the championship on Saturday, February 26^th at 6 p.m. The Cru won the ASC regular-season title and right to host the ASC tournament. All games are played at the Mayborn Campus Center and free of charge.