Box Score

ABILENE, Texas – The battle for first place in the American Southwest Conference West Division went in favor of the visitors as Mary Hardin-Baylor defeated McMurry 80-73 at Kimbrell Arena Thursday night. The Crusaders used a strong first half outscoring McMurry by 12 and five players scored in double figures for UMHB to aide in the victory.

The Crusaders improved to 13-5 overall and 11-3 in league play and shot 46 percent for the contest. Theo Ard scored 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds, Dean Pele scored 16, Zane Johnston added 13 and Sterling Phillips and Ervin Johnson scored a dozen apiece.

Chris Hergenreter followed a missed 3-pointer by Jeremie Hart and laid in put-back to make the score 78-73 in favor of the Crusaders. Then, after a steal from Joshua Sanchez Hart missed a layup to cut the lead to three points, and UMHB iced the game with Johnson's two free throws with 11 seconds left.

Other than a flat first half, McMurry also hurt itself at the free-throw line connecting on just 19 of 30 attempts. Hart had his fifth double-double in his last seven games with 18 points and 12 boards while Jamal Anene had 17 points. Steven Luckey had 11 points and freshman Joshua Sanchez scored a season-high 10 points.

McMurry was plagued by turnovers in the first half recording nine along with a 40 percent shooting effort which UMHB countered with a 48-percent effort. Robert Moreno and Anene also each picked up three fouls in the first half and played sparingly as a result. Moreno finished with five assists but fouled out with only 19 minutes of play.

The loss drops McMurry to 11-6 overall and 9-4 in league play. The team will play host to Concordia-Texas at 3 p.m.