LONGVIEW, Texas – University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men's basketball dropped a 102-81 decision to LeTourneau University Thursday night in Longview. The Cru falls to 13-8 on the season and 2-3 in American Southwest Conference play. The YellowJackets improve their overall record to 16-7 with a 3-4 mark in league play.
                                                                                                                             
The game got off to a hot start after the YellowJackets hit an early three-pointer, immediately followed by a three from Donta Coady to start off with a 3-3 knot. The next scoring possessions played out similarly with a three from LeTourneau before Eli Beard hit one to tie the game right back up. The YellowJackets found an 18-10 lead with 13:13 to play in the half. Maurice Pinnock responded with a layup to cut into the lead, followed by a turn-around jumper to add two more moving the score to 23-14. Eli Beard ended the Cru's scoring drought with a three-pointer at 6:54 assisted by Josh Goings to cut the YellowJackets' lead to 35-17. LeTourneau responded with three but Connor Zamiara followed with a layup for two. Eli Beard and Josh Goings added a pair of layups, but the YellowJackets remained on fire from the field. The score reached 44-23 in LeTourneau's favor with 3:49 remaining in the half. Beard kept pushing forward as he hit a three-pointer before a Ryan Pondant layup moved the deficit to 48-28. Beard drew a foul on a made layup and his free throw was good. The half was finalized with a LeTourneau layup that made it a 55-35 score.
 
Eli Beard was the leading scorer for the Cru with 18 points in the first 20 minutes. Ryan Pondant led with six boards followed by Jerry Day Jr. with four of his own. UMHB summed up a 36.8% field goal percentage with 19 total rebounds.
 
Donta Coady mirrored his first-half action, opening the second half with a three-pointer. Coady and Deonte Jackson from LeTourneau followed with two free throws each, putting the game at 57-40. Eli Beard answered making a layup and two free throws in under one minute of play. Maurice Pinnock added a layup assisted by Daniel Hutson, but the YellowJackets quickly answered with two making it a 65-47 game. Co Rose hit a turn around shot with 12:52 left in the matchup. Zach May and Ryan Pondant each added a layup to cut into the lead, but the YellowJackets continued to hold the high ground at 80-55. Beard struck again with a steal followed later by a layup for two. Daniel Hutson, Jerry Day Jr., and Josh Goings each added two points in the ensuing possessions to cut into the YellowJackets lead 86-63. Maurice Pinnock showed up with back-to-back shots followed by two free throws from Beard. Josiah Wray and Daniel Hutson rounded out the scoring for the Cru with a two points each, closing out the loss with a score of 102-81.
 
Eli Beard led the Cru offensively with 32 points, followed by Maurice Pinnock with 12 of his own. Ryan Pondant led with 12 boards, with a team total of 49 to LeTourneau's 36.
 
UMHB returns to action in Marshall on Saturday, February 15^th in a 3:00pm contest against East Texas Baptist University.