ABILENE, Texas – University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men's basketball fell to Hardin-Simmons University in a six-point loss Saturday in Abilene. The loss dropped the Cru to 17-7 on the season and 4-1 in American Southwest Conference action while the Cowboys improved to 15-9 overall and 4-1 in league play.
 
The first half played back-and-forth until a pull-up jumper by Silas Davis gave the Cowboys a three-point lead. HSU extended that lead to five until a one-minute scoring drought was broken by a Hudson Johnson three-pointer. The Cowboys led until the 9:51 mark when Cam Stinson made a layup to pull ahead by one. The game went back into back-and-forth play until back-to-back three-pointers from the Cowboys gave HSU a seven-point lead. Zach Engels hit a three-pointer with nine seconds left in the first half, sending the game into halftime with a 44-42 HSU lead.
 
Hardin-Simmons extended the lead back to eight at the 18:31 mark in the second half and went ahead by double digits at 16:53. UMHB pulled within two at the 12:01 mark, tying the game off a Stinson three-pointer at 10:39 and taking the lead with a layup by Engels at 9:58. Hardin-Simmons fought back, keeping the game in one-possession play and eventually tying the contest at 70. The Cowboys hit back-to-back shots after that for a four-point margin and widened the gap to eight with 1:28 to play.
 
Elijah Lawrence hit a three-pointer at 1:11 before Johnson made a pair of free throws at 0:39 to cut the gap to three. Chris Bryant responded with a layup for the Cowboys as HSU remained on top, keeping at least a two-possession lead. Connor Zamiara made a layup with three seconds remaining to cut into the lead once again but the Cowboys closed it out with two more free throws, sealing the 86-80 win.  
 
Hudson Johnson and Zach Engels both scored 19 points while Grant Jessen added a career-high 17 points. Engels was also the Cru's leading rebounder with nine, followed by Zamiara with six. UMHB shot 50.9 percent in the contest, making 42.3 percent of its shots from beyond the arc. The Cru totaled 36 points in the paint with 25 points from the bench and 16 fast break points.
 
UMHB returns to action on Saturday, February 21^st in a 3 p.m. contest against Howard Payne University. The Cru is currently tied for first place in the American Southwest Conference with Hardin-Simmons with the Cowboys holding the tiebreaker after the six-point victory.