Cru roll past Southwestern in season opener

Belton, TX – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men's basketball team dominated the first half and never looked back as the Cru rolled to a 73-50 victory over Southwestern University Tuesday night in Belton. UMHB is now 1-0 to open the season. The loss drops the Pirates to 0-3 on the year.

The Cru stormed out to a 17-2 lead early in the first half as Southwestern missed its first 12 shots from the field. UMHB would stretch the lead to 38-17 at halftime as the Pirates shot just 6-29 from the floor in the opening half. The Cru then scored the first 12 points of the second half and Southwestern would not get closer than the final margin the rest of the way.

Thomas Orr led UMHB with 20 points on 7-13 shooting from the field. James Allen added 14 points as 12 different players scored for the Cru in a balanced effort. UMHB shot 46 percent from the floor and out rebounded the Pirates 42-34. The Cru also forced 19 Southwestern turnovers.

Blake Scott was the only player in double figures for Southwestern with 12 points. No other player scored more than six for the Pirates as the team shot just 32 percent from the field and went 6-25 from three-point range in the loss.

The UMHB men will now hit the road for a two-game trip to Washington. The Cru will face Whitworth University in a 5:00 PM Central Time start on Friday. UMHB will close out the trip with a 4:00 PM Central Time start vs. Whitman College on Sunday.