BELTON (February 19, 2009)--The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men’s basketball team broke open a tight game with a hot-shooting second-half and the Cru rolled to a 78-64 victory over Sul Ross State Thursday night in Belton. UMHB improves to 17-7 overall and 15-5 in American Southwest Conference play with the victory. The loss drops the Lobos to 8-15 overall and 8-12 in the ASC on the season.

Sul Ross built an early 14-4 lead before UMHB fought back with a 10-0 run to tie the game at 14. The two teams would trade the lead several times with the Lobos going on top 21-20 with 5:55 left in the half. UMHB scored the next six points to take a 26-21 lead and the Cru would hold a 34-28 halftime edge. The Lobos would keep it close early in the second half and the lead would be five points at 39-34 UMHB with 15:35 remaining. The Cru would push the lead out to 15 points and Sul Ross State would not get closer than eight points the rest of the way.

Jason Wagner led the Cru with 15 points and Greg Wiernas came off the bench to score a career-high 14 on 5-7 shooting. Zane Johnston also reached double figures with 13 points on 4-6 shooting. Eleven different players scored for UMHB in the victory. Filiberto Torres and Jimmy Martinez led Sul Ross with 14 points apiece. Andy Hulsey added 11 points off the bench and Roderick Gunter had 10 points, but the rest of the Lobos combined for just 15 points.

The Cru shot 59 per cent from the field in the second half and hit 52 per cent for the game. The Cru went 25-30 from the free-throw line, forced 24 turnovers and out rebounded Sul Ross State 33-26. The Lobos shot 38 per cent from the field and went 10-23 from three-point range.

The Cru will now close out the regular season with one more home game on Saturday. UMHB will welcome Howard Payne University to the Mayborn Campus Center for a 3:00 PM tip-off. That game will be the final home game for 10 UMHB seniors.