BELTON, Texas - The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men's basketball team earned a 95-81 win over University of the Ozarks Thursday evening in Belton. The win improved the Cru to 7-5 overall and 3-2 in American Southwest Conference play while the Eagles fell to 6-6 on the season and 1-3 in league action.
 
Ozarks opened the game with four points but UMHB responded, taking a 7-6 lead at 18:18 off a jumper from Josiah Johnson. Ozarks took another lead before both teams exchanged foul shots for a 11-9 Ozarks margin. Eli Beard responded to that with a three-pointer at 14:01 but the game continued in one-possession play until the 9:17 mark when Johnson made a pair of foul shots to put the Cru up 23-18.
 
UMHB extended that lead to eight off another three points from Johnson and continued with the two-possession margin. Ozarks cut the gap to four points off a three-pointer from Tim Eldridge with 1:49 to play in the half. Maurice Pinnock responded with three unanswered points while Payton Brooks added two for a 42-33 lead. Ozarks closed the half with a pair of foul shots to send the game into halftime with UMHB up 42-35.
 
Johnson led the Cru with 15 first-half points while Eli Beard added eight. UMHB shot 50 percent in the first frame with 13 points off turnovers and 18 points in the paint. Johnson also led the Cru with five rebounds while Kyle Wright had a team-high three steals and two assists.
 
UMHB regained a double-digit less than a minute into the second half off a three-pointer from Wright. Brooks extended that lead to 15 with another three-pointer at the 17:59 mark as UMHB maintained the double-digit margin, leading by as many as 19 points in the first 10 minutes of the second half.  
 
The Cru continued to dominate the half, leading by as many as 22 points and cruising to a 95-81 win.
 
Josiah Johnson led the Cru with 34 points, adding 16 rebounds, six assists, one block and one steal. Eli Beard followed him with 15 points while Payton Brooks added 13. Wright was the Cru's second-leading rebounder with eight, adding four assists and four steals in the match.
 
UMHB shot 50 percent in the game, making 28 field goals with eight three-pointers. The Cru totaled 20 points off turnovers and 28 points in the paint. The game saw five lead changes with two tied scores. UMHB led for 33:33 of the contest.
 
UMHB returns to action on Saturday, January 6^th in a 3 p.m. contest against the University of Texas at Dallas at the Mayborn Campus Center in Belton.