BELTON, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men's basketball team earned an 86-71 win over Howard Payne University Saturday afternoon in Belton. The win improved the Cru to 11-9 on the season and evened them at 6-6 in American Southwest Conference Action while the Yellow Jackets fell to 10-12 overall and 4-10 in league play.
 
UMHB opened the first half with six unanswered points before the Yellow Jackets got on the board at the 15:58 mark. UMHB responded with eight consecutive points, led by Eli Beard with six points in the run. Howard Payne added one more field goal at the 13:54 mark but UMHB again responded, scoring six points for a 20-4 lead.
 
The Cru took a 20+ point lead at the 9:21 mark off a three-pointer from Josh Goings but Hudson Johnson responded with a three-pointer to cut the gap to 18. Goings hit another three-pointer to extend the gap back to 21 and UMHB held the 20-point margin until the 00:35 mark when Armonie Ramey hit a jumper to cut the lead to 43-24 at the half.
 
Josiah Johnson led the Cru with 12 first-half points while Eli Beard added 10. UMHB shot 39.5 percent in the period with six three-pointers.
 
Ramey opened the second half with a layup for the Yellow Jackets. UMHB responded with a free throw from Jerry Day, Jr. and a three-pointer from Eli Beard for another 21-point lead. Goings hit a three-pointer at 17:13 for a 25-point Cru margin. UMHB held onto the 20+ point lead until the 10:07 mark when Myles Brown made a three-pointer to cut the gap to 17. Howard Payne continued to fight, dwindling the lead to just 13 points before a pair of layups from Connor Zamiara and a three-pointer from Goings put the Cru back up by 20.
 
A pair of free throws from Myles Brown sparked a seven-point run for the Yellow Jackets before Goings thwarted the run with another basket beyond the arc. UMHB held Howard Payne to just four points in the final 3:23 of action to secure the 86-71 win.
 
Johnson led the Cru with 24 points while Goings added 20 and Eli Beard put up 18. UMHB shot 37.6 percent in the contest with 32 field goals. The Cru totaled 12 three-pointers in the contest, with Goings making six of his seven attempts. Johnson secured a double-double with 13 rebounds, while also leading the Cru with five assists. Goings added a team-high three steals. UMHB forced the Yellow Jackets into 17 turnovers and limited them to a 34.2 percent shooting performance.
 
The Cru totaled 34 points in the paint with 23 second chance points and 32 points off turnovers.
 
UMHB returns to action on Thursday, February 8^th in a 7:30 p.m. contest against UT Dallas in Richardson.