BELTON, Texas – Josiah Johnson drained a three-pointer at the buzzer to give UMHB a 72-70 win over East Texas Baptist University Saturday night in Belton. The win improved the Cru to 23-5 on the season and advances them to the NCAA Third Round. East Texas Baptist ends their season at 24-6.
 
East Texas Baptist finally broke the game-opening scoring drought, making a jumper at the 17:09 mark for a 2-0 lead. The Tigers scored again at 16:20 before D.J. Kane made a foul shot and a three-pointer to knot the contest at 4-4. The game played within one possession until 12:07 when the Tigers went on a 14-2 run to go ahead 21-9. Nathan Stolz hit a three-pointer at 7:54 to cut the lead to single digits. The Tigers held substantial margin until the 3:33 mark when Josiah Johnson hit a jumper and the ensuing foul shot to even the contest at 24. UMHB closed the half on a 6-5 run to go into halftime up 30-29.
 
Johnson led the Cru with seven points in the first half while Ty Prince and D.J. Kane each added six. UMHB shot 34.4 percent in the half with 16 points in the paint.
 
The second half played within two possessions for the duration. Johnson opened the half with a jumper but the Tigers quickly responded. UMHB held a lead until 17:35 when Aaron Gregg made a three-pointer to put the Tigers ahead 38-36. The Tigers hit another jumper to go ahead by four before back-to-back three-pointers from Johnson put the Cru up by two.
 
The next five minutes proceeded basket-for-basket before ETBU's Kevin Charles scored four unanswered points. The Cru did not hold a lead again until the 4:27 mark when D.J. Kane hit a three-point followed by a Johnson jumper to go up by three. The Tigers knotted-it back up 67-67 with a Jayden Williams three-pointer with 52 seconds left.
 
Josiah Johnson put the Cru up again with a pair of foul shots at 35 seconds before Aaron Gregg drained a three-pointer for ETBU, putting the Tigers up by one with 11 seconds left. Johnson looked for two in the final seconds but backed up, draining a three pointer at the buzzer to give UMHB the 72-70 win.
 
Johnson led the Cru with 32 points, shooting 12 field goals with three baskets beyond the arc. Ty Prince added 15 points in the contest while D.J. Kane put up 10. UMHB shot 61.5 percent in the second half, totaling a 46.6 percent shooting performance in the contest. Johnson led the Cru with six steals while Prince and Wright each added five assists. Feely was the leading rebounder with seven. UMHB totaled 31 rebounds with ten total steals and two blocks.
 
 
UMHB advances to face Christopher Newport in the NCAA Third Round. For more information about the Cru in the national tournament, visit www.cruathletics.com.