BELTON, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men's basketball team dropped the 2025-26 season opener to Trinity University Sunday afternoon in Belton. The loss opens the Cru at 0-1 while the Tigers open at 1-0.  
 
The first half played back-and-forth with neither team leading by more than two possessions until the 14:10 mark when the Cru went ahead 17-12. The half knotted again at 19 before the Tigers went ahead 24-21 with 11:35 to play. UMHB went back ahead at the 9:36 mark off a three-pointer from Hudson Johnson. The contest knotted again at 27 and the score went to 31-29 in favor of Trinity before a scoring drought that lasted almost four minutes was broken by the Tigers. Trinity ended the half on a four-point run to take a 37-30 lead into halftime.
 
The Tigers opened the second half extending their lead to 11. Zach May and Hudson Johnson hit back-to-back three-pointers to cut the gap back down to five, but Trinity continued to press, going back ahead by seven. Another Johnson three-pointer pulled the Cru within four but Trinity maintained that margin until a Zach Engels three-pointer at 15:55 cut the gap to one.
 
UMHB held the high ground until the Tigers tied it at 13:05 and went ahead at 12:23. Trinity extended that lead to six, but UMHB fought back to tie the contest at 65 with 6:15 to play. The Tigers went back up by four but a jumper from Engels pulled the Cru within two, and a three-pointer from Johnson gave the Cru a one-point lead.
 
Dylan Walker hit a jumper and ensuing foul shot to put the Tigers back on top. Trinity extended that lead to four with 2:07 to play. Elijah Lawrence hit a three-pointer at 1:56 to pull within one but the Tigers answered with another jumper to take a three-point lead. UMHB again cut the lead back down to two, but Trinity responded again, pulling away with a pair of free throws and a jumper to take an 80-74 lead. The Tigers added two more points to the board, sealing the 82-74 win.

"Thank you to everyone who showed up today," Head Coach Sam Patterson said. "It was a great environment, high-energy. I am really appreciative of all the fans who showed up on a Sunday afternoon to support us and this team. We knew going into it, it would be a game of runs. Trinity is a well-coached who will have a lot of success this year. I am disappointed in how we finished the game. Execution and how we come out of timeouts is an area we can improve on quickly but I am proud of our guys' effort and their fight. I thought we played with a ton of energy which was good to see. I am really excited to see the ceiling for this team; they are selfless and looking for each other. I am proud of this team, their energy and am excited to see how far this team can go." 

Hudson Johnson led the Cru with 22 points, followed by Engels and Lawrence with 15 points each. Engels also led the Cru with 14 rebounds as Connor Zamiara added 10. Hudson Johnson tallied five assists and four steals in the matchup with Lawrence also adding four.
 
UMHB returns to action on Thursday, November 13^th in a 7 p.m. contest at LeTourneau University in Longview.