Mary Hardin-Baylor 83, Worcester State 68
Belton, TX --- The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men's basketball team grabbed an early lead and then held off a late Worcester State comeback as the Cru posted an 83-68 victory in the Cru Crothall Holiday Classic Friday night in Belton. The UMHB men, ranked 9th in the country in the D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll, improve to 6-1 on the season with the victory. The loss drops the Lancers to 5-4 on the season.
The Cru built a 37-31 halftime lead after leading by as many as 12 points in the first half. UMHB shot 36 per cent in the first half and held the Lancers to 28 per cent shooting. Worcester State battled back in the second half and the Lancers took their only lead of the game at 42-41 when Justin Sheehan hit a three-pointer with 15:56 left to play. The Cru promptly went on a 7-0 run to take a six-point lead and UMHB would not lead by less than three points the rest of the way. The Cru stretched the lead out late and led by double figures for the last 4:10 of the game.
David Ray led UMHB with 15 points and he added eight rebounds. Ryan Burgart and Tilmon Gaddy scored 12 points apiece and Jason Wagner added 10 for the Cru. Ryan Frassica scored a game-high 24 to lead the Lancers and he went 6-10 from three-point range. Sheehan added 14 points off the bench for Worcester State. UMHB out rebounded the Lancers 57-38 and the Cru shot 55 per cent from the field in the second-half. The Lancers shot just 32 per cent from the field but went 11-33 from beyond the arc in the game.
The Cru will now face Penn State-Behrend in tomorrow's tournament championship game at 4:00 PM. Worcester State will take on Hendrix College in the consolation game at 2:00 PM on Saturday.
Release Courtesy of Mary Hardin-Baylor Sports
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