The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men’s basketball team exploded midway through the first half and never looked back as the Cru rolled to a 106-67 win over Howard Payne Thursday night in Brownwood. UMHB moves to 15-4 overall and 6-4 in American Southwest Conference play with the victory. The loss drops the Yellow Jackets to 3-16 overall and 1-9 in the ASC on the year.
The game was tied at 18 with 12:23 left in the first half before UMHB broke things open. The Cru scored the next 14 points to provide some breathing room and Byrale Carter’s lay-in with 19 seconds remaining gave UMHB a 51-28 halftime edge. The Cru scored 17 of the first 19 points of the second half to push the lead to 38 points and UMHB would lead by as many as 43 points on the way to the win. The Cru shot 60 percent from the field as a team in the second half and held HPU to 43 percent shooting in the final 20 minutes.
Brian Long led a balanced UMHB scoring effort with 17 points and he also grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds. Demarius Cress had 16 points, Sam Moore scored 15 and Carter and Pat Everett added 11 points apiece. Three players had four assists apiece for the Cru. UMHB shot 54 percent overall as a team and hit 14-26 from outside the arc. The Cru also dominated on the boards, out rebounding the Yellow Jackets 51-33 in the victory.
Shadd Cole topped HPU with 15 points and Javaris Jones had 11. Colton Otts added 10 points and a team-high eight rebounds off the bench. The Yellow Jackets shot 37 percent as a team and went 11-33 from long range on the night.
The Cru closes out the week with a 3 pm tip-off at Sul Ross State Saturday in Alpine. UMHB will then wrap up a five-game road swing with two games in Abilene next week.
