BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men's basketball team earned another road win Saturday in a 71-68 decision over Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington. The win opened the Cru at 2-0 on the season.
UMHB jumped to an early 7-1 lead and held the margin, going up by 10 points off a three-pointer from
Josiah Johnson at the 10:10 mark. UMHB held the double-digit lead until the 6:02 mark when Spartans cut the gap with a three-pointer.
Johnson hit another three-pointer to put UMHB back up by 11 points but the IWU fought back with four points from Nick Roper to cut the gap back to six. Back-to-back shots beyond the arc from
Maurice Pinnock and Johnson gave the Cru a 12-point lead with just over four minutes to play. UMHB held that lead, going into halftime up by 10 off a last-second three-pointer from Zach Engels.
Illinois Wesleyan used a seven-point run to cut the lead to just two points but a jumper from
Eli Beard at 13:11 put the Cru up by four.
Kyle Wright extended that lead with a three-pointer at 12:06 before the Spartans fought back to lessen the margin to three points.
The game played within six points for the duration. UMHB led by five with 1:13 to play before Harrison Wilmsen hit a layup to cut the lead to four points.
Josiah Johnson made a jumper at 0:48 which was quickly rebutted by a three-pointer from IWU's Hakim Williams for a 71-68 Cru lead. The remainder of the 35 seconds played in fouls and missed free throws, sealing the Cru's 71-68 win.
Johnson led the Cru with 21 points while Engels added 13 and
Kyle Wright put up 11. UMHB shot 40 percent in the contest with 26 field goals and 13 three-pointers. Johnson also led the Cru with seven rebounds while
Ryan Pondant,
Connor Zamiara and
LD Butler each added five. Johnson also had a team-high four assists and three steals in the match.
Josiah Johnson and
Maurice Pinnock were both named to the Sikma Tournament All-Tournament team with Johnson earning Most Valuable Player.
UMHB returns to action on Wednesday, November 15th in a 7 p.m. contest at Texas Lutheran University in Seguin.
