ABILENE, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men's basketball team dropped a 103-92 decision to Hardin-Simmons University Thursday evening in Abilene. The loss moved the Cru to 7-7 on the season and 3-4 in American Southwest Conference action while the Cowboys moved to 12-2 overall and 6-0 in league play.

Payton Brooks opened the game with a three-pointer to give UMHB an early lead. The Cowboys responded with eight unanswered points for a five-point margin before Ryan Pondant scored a layup at the 17:39 mark to cut the gap to one possession.

Eli Beard followed that with a layup to pull the Cru within one. Josiah Johnson retook the lead for the Cru at the 16:13 mark off a jumper but Will Bartoszek responded with a three-pointer to put HSU back on top. Bartoszek's three-pointer sparked a seven-point run, putting the Cowboys ahead by six in the frame. Eli Beard cut the lead to one possession with a layup but UMHB continued to play from behind.

The Cru pulled within three off a pair of foul shots from Payton Brooks at the 7:24 mark and kept the game in single digits. UMHB retook the lead off a layup from Brooks at 1:36 and extended that to a 41-38 margin with 1:10 to go off a Connor Zamiara layup. HSU's Jason Justice knotted the contest at 41 with a three-pointer with just over one minute remaining. The Cowboys hit a pair of free throws and held the Cru scoreless in the final minute of the first half, going into halftime up 43-41.

The second half played within one possession until 16:39 when Justice made a layup to put the Cowboys up by six points. HSU extended that lead to 11 points before back-to-back Cru layups cut the gap to seven. Bartoszek hit another three-pointer to put the Cowboys back up by double-digits as Hardin-Simmons held onto a substantial lead, going ahead by as many as 15 points in the early part of the second half.

UMHB pulled back within single digits off a Zach Engels layup at 3:11 and continued to score, pulling the game within seven with 51 seconds to play. Asher Fleming made four foul shots in the final 39 seconds of action as the Cowboys held UMHB scoreless, earning the 103-92 win.

Eli Beard led the Cru with 26 points while Josiah Johnson added a double-double with 23 points and 12 rebounds. Zach Engels and Payton Brooks also scored in double-digits with 14 points and 11 points, respectively. Engels was the Cru's second-leading rebounder with eight while Beard and LD Butler both recorded a team-high two assists. UMHB also totaled seven steals in the contest, led by Beard and Butler with two each.

UMHB shot 46.8 percent in the contest, scoring 40 points in the paint and 22 points off the bench. The Cru limited the Cowboys to a 45.8 percent shooting performance in the game, forcing 13 turnovers.

UMHB returns to action on Saturday, January 13^th in a 3 p.m. contest at McMurry University in Abilene.