LEXINGTON, Ken. - The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men's basketball team closed out play in Kentucky with a 63-47 win over Albion College Sunday in Lexington. The win improved the Cru to 9-3 on the season while the Britons fell to 4-5. 

Albion scored the first point of the contest before the Cru went on a 10-0 run to take a nine-point lead. The Britons cut the gap to six off a three-pointer from Kurtis Rhodes but UMHB answered with a 13-2 streak to go ahead by 17. Albion answered again but a three-pointer from Beard extended the Cru's lead to 18. UMHB held the high ground through the duration of the half, going into halftime with a 35-22 margin. 

Three-pointers opened the second half on both sides of the court before Eli Beard scored five unanswered to extend UMHB's lead back to 18. The game played scoreless for the next three minutes until Michael Umeh broke the drought for Albion. The Britons cut the gap down to 10 with 8:41 to play in the frame and again down to nine with 6:49 to go. Beard answered with a three-pointer for the Cru, putting UMHB back up by doubles. The Cru held that margin through the rest of the half, earning the 63-47 win. 

Beard led the Cru with 26 points, making five shots from beyond the arc. Co Rose added 12 points for the Cru while Josh Goings added eight. UMHB shot 42.6 percent in the contest with a 40.9 percent showing from beyond the arc. Beard, B.J. Anderson and Donta Coady led the Cru with six rebounds each while Goings had a team-high five assists. 

UMHB returns to action on Sunday, December 29th in a 4 p.m. contest against Concordia College (Minnesota) at the Mayborn Campus Center in Belton.