ABILENE, Texas - The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men's basketball team won a one-possession overtime thriller to open the week Sunday afternoon in Abilene. The win improved the Cru to 7-1 on the season while the War Hawks fell to 1-6.
UMHB opened the game with a layup from Zachary Engels but McMurry quickly responded with a jumper to tie the contest. The War Hawks used four unanswered points to take a four-point lead but Ryan Pondant and Eli Beard hit back-to-back shots to put the Cru back on top. The game played back-and-forth from there with several lead changes before UMHB hit back-to-back baskets at 7:27 and 7:08 to take a five-point lead.
Eli Beard extended that lead with a jumper at 6:09 and a three-pointer at 5:18 before the War Hawks closed the half on a 16-0 run to take a 36-30 lead into halftime.
The Cru opened the second half with a layup from Pondant and a three-pointer from B.J. Anderson to cut the gap to one. McMurry extended the lead on the next possession and held the high ground, leading by as many as eight points early in the second half. UMHB began to chip away at that eight-point lead, using a pair of layups from Josh Goings and one from Co Rose to dwindle the McMurry lead back to one. Another Eli Beard layup gave the lead back to the Cru but the game went back into point-for-point play. UMHB pulled away again late in the half with seven unanswered points and held the high ground but the War Hawks proved persistent, ending the frame with a trio of three-pointers to knot the contest at 72 after regulation.
Jalen Cherry opened overtime scoring with a McMurry layup and Zachary Engels answered 13 seconds later with a layup for the Cru. Cherry followed with a foul shot before Eli Beard hit a three-pointer for a 77-75 UMHB margin. Cherry again hit the equalizer at the 2:02 mark before Anderson put the Cru back up by two with another score. Cherry answered with a three-pointer for a McMurry lead and back-to-back jumpers from Engels and McMurry's Kino Thompson brought the score to 82-81 McMurry with 44 seconds to play. Eli Beard answered with a pair of foul shots at the 00:23 mark. After a missed layup by Thompson and offensive rebound, Beard recorded a steal and made the ensuing free throws after a foul, giving the Cru an 85-82 lead with six seconds to go. McMurry added one more free throw but was unable to catch up, giving UMHB the 85-83 victory.
Beard totaled 26 points in the contest with nine field goals and five free throws. Josh Goings tallied 18 more points off seven field goals and four foul shots while Engels added 14 points.
Anderson was the Cru's leading rebounder with nine boards while Goings had a team-high three assists. UMHB shot 50.7 percent in the contest and was perfect in overtime, hitting all four field goals and all four free throws.
The contest saw 22 lead changes and 10 tied scores with UMHB scoring 48 points in the paint and 11 points off the bench.
UMHB returns to action December 13th - 14th in a pair of road games in Walla Walla, Washington. The Cru will follow with two matches in Lexington, Kentucky before returning home December 29th - 30th.
