Belton, TX – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men’s basketball team took advantage of a big edge from the free-throw line and the Cru held off a late Hardin-Simmons charge to post an 82-76 victory over the Cowboys Thursday night in Belton. UMHB improves to 21-3 overall and 18-2 in American Southwest Conference play with the victory. Hardin-Simmons falls to 14-10 overall and 13-7 in the ASC on the season with the loss.

The Cru led by as many as ten points in the first half and held a 36-26 edge with 3:20 remaining in the first half. The Cowboys closed the half with a 7-2 run to cut it to 38-33 UMHB at the break. UMHB would stretch it out again in the second half and built a 72-59 lead with 3:15 left to play. The Cowboys would close to within three points at 76-73 on a pair of three-pointers from both Marcus Smith and Rob Yeatts, but UMHB went on to ice the game from the free-throw line.

The Cru shot 48 per cent from the field and out rebounded HSU 40-34. UMHB also went 29-41 from the free-throw line while the Cowboys were 7-13 from the stripe. HSU shot 43 per cent from the field and went 11-30 from three-point range.

Ryan Burgart led UMHB with 20 points and nine rebounds and he also blocked three shots. Tilmon Gaddy added 18 points, eight boards and four assists. Zane Johnston came off the bench to score 16 for the Cru and Neiman Ford added 15 for UMHB. Smith topped HSU with 22 points and Yeatts added 20. Mardochee Jean had 17 points and 12 rebounds before fouling out of the game. Charlie Pannell came off the bench to chip in 10 points for the Cowboys, who had just five players score.

UMHB will now close out the regular season with a 3:00 PM tip-off against McMurry University on Saturday. The Cru will then play host to the ASC Championship Tournament next Friday, Saturday and Sunday.