BELTON, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men's basketball team earned a 90-73 win over the University of Texas at Dallas in the 2022 American Southwest Conference Men's Basketball Championship Tournament Semifinal Friday evening in Belton. The win improves the Cru to 24-2 on the season and advances them to the championship contest.
 
UMHB's perimeter shooting was the story of the first half as the Cru went 11-18 from beyond the arc. Ty Prince opened the contest with a pair of threes to gain a six-point lead in the first minute of action.  UT Dallas cut the lead to two points at the 17:35 mark but UMHB answered with back-to-back threes to go up by 10. The Cru cruised from there, leading by as many as 21 points at the 9:25 mark and holding a double-digit advantage for a 52-35 halftime score. Prince led the Cru with 14 points in the half, followed by Kyle Wright with 11.
 
UT Dallas opened the second half with a 19-2 run, evening the game at 54 with 13:51 left on the clock. The Comets took their first lead of the game at the 13:51 mark with a free throw from Kolton Pruitt. Carson Hammond responded with a pair of foul shots to put the Cru ahead again. Hammond added a jumper at 11:57b for a three-point lead. UT Dallas tied the game at 60 but Josiah Johnson and Nathan Stolz teamed up for a 9-2 run to give UMHB a 69-62 lead with just under eight minutes to play.
 
UMHB continued to pull away, taking a 15-point lead with just under five minutes to play and held on for the win. Josiah Johnson led the Cru with 22 points, followed by Ty Prince with 20 and Carson Hammond with 14. Nathan Stolz led UMHB with five boards while Johnson added eight assists and Kyle Wright had five steals. UMHB shot 50 percent in the contest with a 54.2 percentage from beyond the arc.
 
UMHB advances to the 2022 ASC Men's Basketball Championship match on Saturday, February 26^th. The Cru will face off against No. 2 seed LeTourneau University at 6 p.m. in the Mayborn Campus Center. Admission to the contest is free.