BELTON, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor basketball team won an overtime thriller against Hardin-Simmons University Tuesday evening in Belton. The win improved the Cru to 17-6 overall and 4-0 in American Southwest Conference action while the Cowboys fell to 14-9 overall and 3-1 in league play.
 
Hardin-Simmons opened the game with a 7-0 lead before Donta Coady made a three-pointer to cut the gap to four. The Cowboys continued to press offensively, taking an eight-point lead at 12:24 and extending that to double digits at 7:37. The Cru used an 8-2 run late in the first half to pull within nine, ending the first half at an eight-point deficit.
 
Coady led the Cru with 13 points in the first half while Grant Jessen added five. UMHB shot 37.5 percent in the half to the Cowboys' 51.4 percent.
 
Elijah Lawrence hit a three-pointer to cut the gap to six before a Hudson Johnson jumper dwindled the lead down to four. A pair of foul shots from Grant Jessen evened the contest at 48 but the Cowboys quickly answered with a layup and extended the lead back to nine with 12:10 to play.
 
Grant Jessen hit a three-pointer at 5:18 to pull the Cru within seven before a Hudson Johnson layup cut the gap to five.  HSU answered, retaining the two-possession lead until another Lawrence three-pointer at 2:55 cut the gap to two.  HSU extended the lead back to six with two minutes to play but another Lawrence three cut the gap once again. HSU made a pair of foul shots with 18.4 seconds to extend the lead to five. A layup from Zach Engels at 00:10 followed by a three-pointer from Johnson at the buzzer to send the game into overtime knotted at 78.
 
HSU took an early overtime lead with UMHB tying the score two times in the first 2:30. UMHB took the lead at 1:49 off a jumper from Donta Coady, who followed with a pair of foul shots to retake the lead after an HSU free throw. Johnson drained another three-pointer at 1:03 to give the Cru a five-point lead. The Cowboys mirrored at 39.4 to cut the gap to two but UMHB held on, earning the 93-90 overtime win.
 
Donta Coady and Elijah Lawrence each totaled 19 points while Zach Engels added 18 and Johnson tallied 17. UMHB shot 48.6 percent in the second half of action with a 66.7 percent showing in overtime.
 
Coady also led the Cru with 12 rebounds while Connor Zamiara added nine and Jessen had seven.
 
"First of all I want to highlight the electric atmosphere we had tonight," Head Coach Sam Patterson said. "We are extremely appreciative to everyone that came out to support this program. We knew it would be a great game, with both teams playing well and undefeated in conference play. I have a ton of respect for Coach Brackett and Coach Harris. It was a hard-fought game and I am so proud of our guys for staying in the fight and always believing we could win. I thought we had good looks early in the game that we just didn't convert. We turned it over which led to easy buckets in transition. Being able to cut the lead down to single digits going into halftime was big. I challenged our players to come out of halftime and throw the first punch. I thought our guys responded well and we were able to shift some momentum our way in that second half. There's something to say about the belief this locker room has in each other that is truly special. We had several players make big plays for us that were capped with a huge shot by Hudson at the end of regulation. I thought we executed down the stretch and limited our turnovers to give us a chance. We knew it was going to be a very physical game with both teams fighting hard on the glass." 

UMHB returns to action at Hardin-Simmons University on Saturday, February 14^th at 3 p.m.

"It's important for us to now dominate in our recovery and prepare for a great rematch in a few days. We're excited about our next opportunity on Saturday."