The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men’s basketball team hit clutch free-throws and came up with big rebounds when it counted as the Cru topped Concordia Texas 83-77 Saturday afternoon in Austin. UMHB moves to 14-4 overall and 5-4 in American Southwest Conference play with the victory. The loss drops the Tornados to 8-10 overall and 6-3 in the ASC on the season.
Concordia jumped out to a 20-11 lead to open the game before UMHB battled back/ LaKendric Hyson’s lay-in at the first-half buzzer gave the Cru a 43-40 lead at the break. The second half featured 10 lead changes and 10 ties in a back-and-forth affair. Sam Moore buried a three-pointer to put UMHB up 73-70 with 3:40 remaining, but the Tornados were able to tie it up on a free-throw and Joe Neal jumper. The two teams traded free-throws before Brian Long scored lay-ups on back-to-back trips down the floor to give the Cru a 79-75 lead. Hyson’s lay-in made it a six-point UMHB advantage with 33 seconds left. The Cru would hold an 82-77 lead into the final seconds before Moore hit a free-throw and then stole the ball away from Concordia to allow UMHB to dribble out the clock and preserve the victory.
Moore led UMHB with 31 points and 13 rebounds. He hit 8-13 from three-point range and also recorded five assists. Long chipped in 16 points and 11 boards and Hyson had 15 points for the Cru. UMHB shot 49 percent from the field as a team and hit 10-22 from beyond the arc. The Cru went 15-22 from the free-throw line and.UMHB’s bench out scored Concordia’s 25-15.
Neal topped the Tornados with 25 points and 10 rebounds. Spencer Bone hit 7-10 three-pointers to finish with 22 points and Ronnie Hamilton added 14 points. Concordia had a slight rebounding edge at 42-39, but the Tornados shot just 34 percent from the field as a team and went 11-38 from the three-point line.
The Cru continues its five-game road trip with a pair of ASC West Division games next week. UMHB will open with a 7:30 pm start at Howard Payne Thursday in Brownwood. The Cru will then take on Sul Ross State in a 3 pm tip Saturday in Alpine.
