Jackson, MS- The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men's basketball team fought back from a late deficit and took the lead for good on Matt Caskey's steal and lay-up as the Cru went on to a 65-62 victory over Fontbonne University in an NCAA Division III National Championships First Round Game Friday night in Jackson, Mississippi. The Cru picks up the first NCAA Tournament victory in school history and improves to 26-3 on the year with the victory. The loss ends the Griffins season at 21-7 on the year.

Fontbonne took a 59-55 lead on Patrick McCoy's three-pointer with 3:53 remaining. David Ray cut it to 59-57 with a lay-up with 3:10 left to play. Brian Fogerty hit a free-throw to push the lead to 60-57, but Ray answered with a pair of free-throws at the other end to cut it to 60-59 with 2:33 to go. Justin Storandt's lay-up gave the Griffins a 62-59 lead with 2:08 remaining, but Fontbonne would not score again. Another Ray lay-up cut it to 62-61 with 1:43 on the clock. Caskey then stole the ball from Storandt at mid-court and hit a lay-up to give UMHB a 63-62 lead with 1:05 remaining. Tilmon Gaddy added a 17-footer with 7.2 seconds left to push the margin to 65-62 and McCoy's desperation three at the buzzer rimmed out to clinch the win for the Cru.

"They played hard on both ends of the floor and we have a tremendous amount of respect for that program," UMHB head coach Ken DeWeese said. "We were fortunate to survive this one with a victory."

David Ray led UMHB with 18 points and Neiman Ford added 14 points, with 11 of those coming in the first half. Tilmon Gaddy had eight points and Ryan Burgart added seven boards and a team-high eight rebounds. Josh Branch topped Fontbonne with 20 points, Justin Storandt had 15 points and a game-high 13 rebounds and Patrick McCoy chipped in 14 points for Fontbonne. Just six players scored for the Griffins, while UMHB had eight players score.

UMHB shot 54 per cent from the field in the game and hit 5-10 from three-point range. The Cru went just 10-23 from the free-throw line and turned the ball over 21 times, but overcame that for the win. Fontbonne shot 43 per cent from the field and 36 per cent from beyond the arc in the loss.

The Cru now advances to the second round to face either tournament host Millsaps College or Maryville (TN) College tomorrow night. That game will start at 7:00 PM with a berth in the Sweet 16 on the line.