Photo by William Roberts/@c1osen
BELTON- Two days after upsetting Texas State in San Marcos, the UMHB men’s basketball team returned to the familiar confines of the Mayborn Campus Center. And in the home opener, the Crusaders put on a show, complete with dunks, fast-break layups, and a number of stellar plays on the defensive end, as they moved to 2-2 in ASC play with an 87-65 victory over Howard Payne.
HPU drops to 0-4 in ASC play, while UMHB is now 4-3 overall in the 2022-2023 season.
How it happened
16 seconds into the game, Ty Prince scored on a jumper, giving UMHB’s its first lead. But HPU responded, taking a 5-4 lead on Jerren Godfrey’s three-pointer just over a minute later. Godfrey tied the game at eight apiece with another three-pointer with 16:59 left in the opening half, but then UMHB’s 11-2 scoring run followed, sparked by Josiah Johnson’s three-pointer.
Leading 19-10 by that point, Zachary Engels’ three-pointer made it a double-digit lead for the Cru. But it did not stop there. UMHB scored the game’s next 17 points, running away with it before the clock ticked under five minutes. The Crusaders led 36-12, and led 43-25 entering the second half.
The second half began in similar fashion to that of the opening minutes of the first, with Prince scoring on a layup on UMHB’s first possession, extending the advantage to 20 once again. UMHB’s work was not finished, though, because HPU slowly but surely trimmed the deficit to just 12 points, 64-52 on Miles Koehler’s jumper with 8;39 left to play.
Then, as if woken up by the Yellow Jackets’ 7-3 run, UMHB countered with a run that seemed to seal the victory, scoring on four straight possessions. That made it 72-52, and the Crusaders kept a firm grasp on the lead, widening it to as many as 24 points, on a pair of free throws from Tra Snell, with 1:13 remaining.
Team Stats
For the sixth straight game, UMHB shot above 40 percent from the field, converting on 45.9 percent of its attempts (34-for-74). The bench contributed 34 points in the win, led by Engels, who had nine points in just eight minutes of action. The Cru also had 23 fast-break points and 28 points off 18 HPU turnovers.
Up Next
UMHB hosts Sul Ross State at 3 p.m. on Saturday in Belton. SRSU is 3-6 overall, and 1-3 in ASC play.
UMHB stat leaders
Points: Luke Feely (16), Gibson Hearne (15), Josiah Johnson (11)
Rebounds: Gibson Hearne (9), Nathan Stolz (7), Luke Feely, Ty Prince, Kyle Wright (6)
Assists: Kyle Wright (7), Ty Prince (5), Gibson Hearne, Luke Feely, Josiah Johnson (3)
