ABILENE, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men's basketball team overcame a double-digit deficit to earn a 90-81 win over Hardin-Simmons University in the American Southwest Conference Championship Saturday in Abilene. This is the Cru's fourth ASC title and first under head coach Sam Patterson.
 
Hardin-Simmons jumped to a quick 10-2 lead in the first half, extending the gap to 16 at the 10:30 mark. UMHB fought back, pulling within eight at the 4:09 mark. Hardin-Simmons extended the gap again but the Cru was persistent, pulling within 11 and ending the half with a 44-33 Cowboy lead.
 
Elijah Lawrence led the Cru with 12 first-half points while Donta Coady added seven and Grant Jessen tallied five.
 
The Cru cut the gap to singles off a Zach Engels layup at 16:43. That layup sparked a 9-0 run for the Cru, dwindling the lead down to two. Matthew Alexander made a layup for the Cowboys as HSU extended the gap back to six but a three-pointer from Engels made it a one-possession game.
 
Back-to-back three-pointers from Donta Coady and Engels gave UMHB its first lead of the game at 13:43. HSU responded and the game went into back-and-forth play with UMHB getting back on top at 12:41 and holding the lead. HSU cut the gap to one at 10:50 and 9:30 but UMHB remained on top. The Cowboys tied the game at 67 with 8:30 to play but the Cru got back on top and held a narrow lead until the final minute of action when they extended the gap to 10 and cruised to a 90-81 win.
 
Zach Engels and Donta Coady each finished with 23 points while Elijah Lawrence added 15 and Hudson Johnson tallied 12. Grant Jessen was the Cru's leading rebounder, bringing down 12 boards while Johnson added a team-high five assists.
 
"It's pretty special just how the game went," Head Coach Sam Patterson said. "I thought Hardin-Simmons came out and really used the crowd to their advantage early. I thought we got good looks early they just weren't falling. We got behind a little bit in the first half but that's kind of how our season has gone. We're really an elite second half team. We knew going down the stretch that it was going to be about taking care of the ball and free throws and I thought defensively we really did well in the second half. When you're playing a team for the third time you're really familiar with the details and I thought our guys at the end of the game just made winning plays." 

Donta Coady was named ASC Tournament Most Valuable Player while Hudson Johnson and Zach Engels both earned All-Tournament Team honors. UMHB advances to the 2026 NCAA Division III Men's Basketball National Championship Tournament. The tournament field will be announced during the selection show on Monday, March 2^nd.