BELTON, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men's basketball team used an 18-point run in the second half of action to earn an 83-62 win over Centenary College Tuesday evening in Belton. The win evened the Cru at 2-2 while the Gents fell to 0-5 on the season.
 
Centenary opened the game on an 11-point streak, highlighted by three consecutive makes behind the arc. UMHB fought back, pulling within five at the 13:00 mark but Centenary continued the press, going ahead by nine with 10:33 to play in the half. Daniel Hutson responded with back-to-back jumpers, cutting the lead to five before a Zach Engels basket made it a one-possession game. Centenary answered with a three-pointer but a five-point run from Cam Stinson pulled the Cru back within one. UMHB kept it a one-possession game, tying the contest at 28 with 4:38 to play.
 
The half went back-and-forth from there with each team trading baskets. Centenary took a five-point margin at 2:41 but UMHB pulled back within three off a Donta Coady jumper at 0:37. Hudson Johnson drained the equalizer at the buzzer, hitting a three-pointer from the top of the arc sending the game into halftime at a 36-36 tie.
 
Cam Stinson led the Cru with eight points in the frame while Johnson added seven. Engels totaled four rebounds and three assists while Elijah Lawrence also added three assists.
 
UMHB opened the second half with three shots made behind the arc, taking a 45-36 lead.  Centenary fought back, pulling within one but Cam Stinson answered for the Cru, scoring eight unanswered points for a 68-55 UMHB margin. The Cru forced the Gents into a timeout and came out of that break on a 10-point run, led by Johnson with eight straight points. The Gents finally broke a scoring drought lasting almost four minutes at the 4:08 mark but the game cruised from there, ending in an 83-62 UMHB win.

"I'm really proud of our guys for responding after getting down early," Head Coach Sam Patterson said. "Credit to Centenary, they came out and punched us in the mouth early with their energy and effort. I'm proud of how we closed out the first half and opened up the second half. We got back to playing our brand of basketball and I thought Grant, Dontae and Cam really sparked us." 

Cam Stinson led the Cru with 19 points while Hudson Johnson added 18. Donta Coady and Zach Engels also finished in double-digits with 13 points and 11 points, respectively. UMHB outscored the Gents 47-26 in the second half with 41 points off the bench and 30 points in the paint. Engels finished with 10 rebounds, followed by Lawrence, Hutson and Grant Jessen with five each. Lawrence led the Cru with six assists while Hutson, Engels and Johnson each added two steals.

"Thank you to everyone who came out to support us," Patterson added. The crowd gave us great energy and our players really fed off of it to open up the game in the second half."

UMHB returns to action on Saturday, November 29^th in a 5 p.m. contest at the University of St. Thomas (Texas) in Houston.