BELTON, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men's basketball team earned a come-from-behind win to earn a 71-65 win over East Texas Baptist University Tuesday night in Belton. The win improved the Cru to 16-9 on the season while the Tigers fell to 15-11. UMHB also advances to the ASC Semifinals with the win.
Josiah Johnson opened the game with a jumper before Connor Zamiara made a pair of free throws for a four-point lead. ETBU responded with a three-pointer at 16:39 to cut the gap to one before Johnson drained another three-pointer for a Cru response. UMHB held a one-possession lead until the 12:54 mark when Jayden Williams made a three pointer to give the Tigers a 12-10 lead. Zach Engels quickly evened the contest for the Cru but the Tigers responded again, going ahead 15-13 with 11:35 to play in the first half.
ETBU extended the lead to six halfway through the frame but a pair of foul shots from Johnson and a three-pointer from Jerry Day, Jr. cut the gap to one. The Tigers jumped back ahead by five and led by as many as nine points in the back half of the first frame. UMHB continued to fight, cutting the lead to three with 2:51 to play and going into halftime down 40-35.
UMHB shot 34.5 percent in the first half, led by Johnson with 12 points. Ryan Pondant added seven first-half points while Johnson was also the Cru's leading rebounder with three.
Ryan Elzy opened the second half with a jumper for the Tigers but Beard responded with a three-pointer to cut the gap to one possession. ETBU extended the lead to six points with 18:15 to play but Beard answered with another three-pointer. The Tigers held the lead until the 12:44 mark when Johnson sunk a shot outside the perimeter for a 50-49 margin. ETBU quickly retook the lead with a layup at 11:50 and extended that with another layup at 11:24.
UMHB evened the game with a trio of free throws from Johnson at 10:49 but the Tigers scored the equalizer at 9:24. Engels put the Cru back on top with a jumper at 9:04 and Johnson added some cushion with a three-pointer at 7:51. The Cru held a lead until 5:10 when Elzy tied it for the Tigers. Free throws from Johnson and Beard put the Cru ahead by three but Joshua Davis responded with a three-pointer for the Tigers to even the game at 64 with 3:14 to play.
Jerry Day, Jr. made a layup at 2:31 to put UMHB up by two, followed by free throws from Beard for a 68-64 margin. Beard added two more points off a layup at 1:14 and UMHB held on to the lead, earning a 71-65 win.
Josiah Johnson led the Cru with 25 points, followed by Eli Beard with 20. UMHB shot 38.9 percent in the contest, going 34.8 percent beyond the arc and scoring 22 points in the paint. UMHB added 17 points off turnovers with 18 points off the bench and 18 second-chance points.
Johnson also led the Cru with 10 rebounds, while Beard added three assists and seven different Crusaders recorded steals.
UMHB advances to the ASC Semifinals on Friday, February 23rd in Abilene. The Cru will face tournament-host Hardin-Simmons at 7:30 p.m.
