ABILENE, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men's basketball team earned an 89-84 win over East Texas Baptist University in the 2026 ASC Semifinals, earning a spot in the 2026 Championship match.  
 
ETBU led early but UMHB took the lead off a Hudson Johnson layup at 15:04. The Cru held the high ground until 13:11 when the Tigers evened the contest at 14 with a Jack Pease three-pointer. ETBU took a five-point lead but the Cru answered, tying the contest again at 19.
 
Play continued in back-and-forth action with the Cru pulling ahead late. UMHB held a seven-point margin with 3:41 to play and stayed in top, cruising to a 45-39 halftime advantage.
 
ETBU opened the second half with back-to-back threes, tying the contest at 47.
 
UMHB led for most of the second half but the Tigers were persistent in pursuit, pulling within one with 6:37 to play. The Tigers followed with a layup to go ahead but Elijah Lawrence quickly responded, putting the Cru back on top with 5:44 to go. Donta Coady hit a three at 4:44, followed by an ETBU layup for a two-point lead.
 
UMHB held an 84-80 lead with 1:22 to play. Shad Levy hit a dunk for the Tigers at 00:52 before a Zach Engels free throw made it a three-point game. Coady and Hudson Johnson each made a foul shot before the Tigers hit another dunk to cut the gap back to three. Johnson put the game away for the Cru, making two free throws at 00:04 for the 89-84 win.
 
Hudson Johnson led the Cru with 28 points, followed by Elijah Lawrence with 14 and Zach Engels with 12. UMHB shot 41 percent in the contest with 36 second-chance points and 50 points in the paint. Connor Zamiara was the Cru's leading rebounder, tallying 15 while Grant Jessen added nine.

"First I want to give ETBU credit," Head Coach Sam Patterson said. "They are a team that always plays hard and plays together; they are a team who is much better than their win-loss record. If you look at the two previous games we played against them, we were pretty even on the boards. I thought for us to win today we needed to come out and dominate the glass. Really proud of our players for responding to the challenge and winning the second chance points 36 to 10. Our senior leaders played well for us today. That's what I expect in big games is for our vets to step up and that's exactly what they did: Connor to grab 15 rebounds and battle through some foul trouble, Hudson had a good scoring night and I thought Grant's energy off the bench really inspired us. Now it's important to dominate the recovery and preparation for tomorrow. We will refuel and rest tonight and attack tomorrow with the mindset of playing desperate and playing together."

UMHB returns to action in the 2026 American Southwest Conference Championship on Saturday, February 28^th on the campus of Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene.