Sports
UMHB holds off Concordia
Monday, 21 January 2013 by Tony Adams
On Tuesday night where was rainy and dark, the Cru knew there was a Concordia Tornado around the corner.
The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men's basketball team let several double digit leads slip away, but recovered in time to hold off Concordia (TX) 98-95 in front of 900 fans at the Mayborn Campus Center.
UMHB improves to 10-3 overall and 7-1 in American Southwest Conference play with the victory.
The Cru also breaks a three-way tie for first place in the ASC West Division with the win to take a half-game lead over Hardin-Simmons University. The loss snaps Concordia's eight-game winning streak and drops the Tornados to 10-3 overall and 6-2 in ASC play on the season.
The Cru led by as many as 15 points in the first half after trailing 8-0 to start the game. Concordia used another run to close to within 45-43 at halftime.
UMHB opened the second half strong and opened up a 12-point lead at 59-47 in the early going.
The lead grew to as many as 18 before Concordia stormed back. Josh Sanchez hit a lay-up with 1:37 remaining to give the Tornados their first lead of the second half at 91-90. James Allen answered with a lay-in on the next possession to make it 92-91, but another Sanchez basket put Concordia up 93-92. Brian Todd's jumper with 37 seconds left gave UMHB a 94-93 lead and the Cru added four more free throws while getting stops at the defensive end. Sanchez hit a runner with 1.1 seconds left to cut it to the final margin and Thomas Orr pulled in a baseball pass and held the ball as time expired.
Todd finished with 25 points and added six rebounds and four assists. Orr also poured in 25 points and went 5-10 from three-point range. Kitrick Bell had 14 points and seven boards and Allen added 11 points, nine rebounds and eight assists for UMHB. The impressive part of the scoring was that UMHB played eight men, with seven playing virtually the entire ball game
UMHB ran neck and neck with Concordia all evening, as the Tornado averaged 93 points a game.
"We took what we could get from them," said coach Ken DeWeese. "We ran up and down the court with them and matched them at every turn."
Dwayne Patterson topped Concordia with 25 points and a game-high 16 rebounds, while Sanchez also poured in 25 points and recorded six assists. Nick Haynes finished with 12 points, all of them coming in the second half for the Tornados. Concordia shot 53 percent from the field and 9-22 from beyond the arc. The Tornados also out rebounded UMHB 39-34 in the game.
With an ASC schedule coming up with Hardin-Simmons Saturday and a six-game road trip to wrap up the month of January, DeWeese and the Cru know opposition will be ready for them.
"It's going to be brutal." DeWeese said.
Cru avenge first ASC loss
TYLER-Just 36 hours following the game at East Texas Baptist, the Cru returned to the courts to avenge their first American Southwest Conference loss of the 2012-2013 campaign.
It didn't take long for UMHB to show the UT-Tyler faithful that the Patriots were in for a handful of hurt.
The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men's basketball team built a double-digit second-half lead and then held off a furious UT-Tyler's attempt with clutch free-throw shooting in a 75-71 win over the Patriots in Tyler Saturday afternoon. The Cru improved to 10-3 overall and 6-1 in ASC play with the win. The Patriots fell to 10-3 overall and 5-2 in the ASC with their second straight loss.
UMHB led 35-28 at halftime and opened the second half with an 8-2 run to build a 13-point lead at 43-30. UT-Tyler cut the lead to six points at 49-43 midway through the second half before the Cru took the lead back into double figures. Darren Houliston's three-point play pulled the Patriots to within two at 58-56 with 3:46 remaining. James Allen answered with a three-point play of his own and UMHB would lead by seven with 2:20 left to play. A Joe Stephens three-pointer cut the Cru's lead to 67-66 with 54 seconds left, but Thomas Orr hit a three pointer to put UMHB back up by four. Jordan Cannon sandwiched and three-pointed around two Orr free-throws to make it 72-71 UMHB with eight seconds on the clock. Cory Meals then hit two free throws to make it 74-71 Cru and Orr pulled down the rebound on Cannon's missed three with 0.1 seconds left. Orr hit the first free throw before intentionally missing the second to end the game.
Four Crusaders scored in double figures, led by Brian Todd's had 18 points and 10 rebounds. Kitrick Bell also recorded a double-double with 17 points and 13 boards. Orr also scored 18 points and Allen chipped in 13 more for UMHB.
UMHB shot 45 percent from the field and went an impressive 20-28 from the free-throw line.
Houliston led UT-Tyler with 18 points and nine rebounds. Cannon and Travis Dykman scored 12 points apiece for the Patriots.
Cru's win streak snapped
MARSHALL– The chilly late-week weather put an ice pack on the hot shooting University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men's basketball team as they were stopped 66-57 by the East Texas Baptist Tigers Thursday night.
The loss snapped the Cru's eight-game winning streak and drops UMHB to 9-3 overall and 5-1 in American Southwest Conference play on the season. The Tigers improve to 6-6 overall and 2-4 in ASC play with the victory.
The Cru fell behind by double digits at 24-14 late in the first half and trailed by as many as 12 points before cutting it to 28-19 at halftime. UMHB shot just 19 percent from the field in that half and only hit 1-12 from three-point range. The Cru fought back to tie the game twice in the second half and took a 42-38 lead as Kitrick Bell and Thomas Orr combined to score eight straight points. A James Allen three-pointer gave UMHB its final lead at 47-45 with 7:06 remaining, but the Tigers used a 5-0 run to retake the lead. The Cru would get back to within one point, but went cold from the field again and ETBU pulled away late at the free-throw line.
Brian Todd led UMHB with 13 points. Bell and Orr added 11 points and 10 rebounds apiece and Allen also chipped in 11 points. The Cru recovered to shoot just 30 percent from the field in the game and finished 4-24 from beyond the arc. UMHB out rebounded the Tigers 48-35 and pulled down 21 offensive rebounds in the game.
Chris Collins led ETBU with 15 points. Jaron Joseph scored 11 points and Junior Mitchell chipped in 10 for the Tigers.
