ASC Regular Season Champs! UMHB men's basketball wins 14th straight in regular season finale at Hardin-Simmons

ABILENE- Clif Carroll said on Thursday night that a win in the regular season finale at Hardin-Simmons would not come without a fight.

Perhaps that was an understatement.

They trailed by a point at halftime. Leading scorer Josiah Johnson took a hit to the head midway through the second half, and was forced to leave the game for a time. The officials called a pair of technical fouls against the Cru with under six minutes to go, giving HSU free shots in perhaps the game’s most pivotal stretch.

And yet, none of it held back the 19th-ranked Crusaders from victory, from a 14th straight win, from claiming the ASC regular season title in a 95-90 defeat of their rivals in Abilene.

“There was a lot of adversity today, a lot of chances to fold our tent and go home,” Carroll said postgame. “But we didn’t.”

Johnson, with a white patch above his left eye, checked back into the game minutes after hitting the floor while diving for a loose ball, coming through with 26 points in the win. In his absence, Kyle Wright took charge, scoring 11 points in the four-minute span that Johnson was on the bench. And the technical foul calls? Despite those, UMHB never relinquished the lead, though HSU cut it close.

“I certainly have to be better,” Carroll said, noting that the technical against him resulted in five points on one possession for HSU. “That said, I think we evened out the officiating a little bit. And [Josiah] coming back in was huge. Him being out for as long as he was, I was proud of Kyle for stepping up. Luke [Feely] and Ty [Prince] also did a great job during that time.”

The win means UMHB will host the final two rounds of the ASC Tournament on Friday and Saturday of next week, facing the winner of Hardin-Simmons and Concordia (TX) on Friday night at 7:30 p.m.

“We take a lot of pride in winning the league,” Carroll said, noting that six of his last eight teams have won either the entire conference or their division. “It’s satisfying, and the best part of it is the guys went up to the locker room, took the jersey off, got pizza and got on the road. We certainly expect to win this thing. It’s an expectation for us.”

Even in the game’s final minute, victory was not a certain fact for the visitors from Belton. Will Bartoszek’s layup for the Cowboys cut UMHB’s lead to two with 1:09 left, only to be countered by a pair of free throws from Johnson. The same cycle happened again seconds later, with HSU scoring, and Johnson adding two more free throws on the other end. But HSU senior Steven Quinn heightened the energy inside the Mabee Complex with a swish from beyond the three-point arc and just 22.4 seconds on the clock.

The Cru did not flinch. Leading 93-90, the clock ticked under 10 seconds, and the Cowboys inbounded the ball from the sideline. Jason Justice dribbled, then rolled to his left, trying to set up a game-tying three-point shot for a teammate. But that three-point shot never came. Luke Feely stole the ball away for UMHB with just over four seconds to play. The junior forward’s two ensuing free throws on the other end were the final statement point.

“We practice end of game situations a lot,” Carroll noted. “We’re an experienced team. We’ve been through a lot of these high-leverage situations before. We don’t panic. We keep our head. We have a plan.”

UMHB enters the postseason with a 21-4 record, and went 16-2 in ASC play this season. Amongst the most notable numbers from the win, the Cru’s shooting percentage of 54 percent certainly sticks out. After struggling somewhat in the opening minutes of the second half, falling behind 66-59 with 12:09 remaining, UMHB put 32 points on the board in the final 10 minutes of the contest.

HSU opened the game with a notable intensity, connecting on a number of tough shots as the Cowboys took a 7-2 lead. The lead changed hands seven times in the final 10 minutes of the opening half, with the hosts taking a 46-45 advantage into halftime.

“They really shot it well in the first half,” Carroll said. “They made some shots that we had defended and [just made them anyway]. I’m proud of the guys for sticking together.”

Though it made for a very stressful afternoon on the sidelines for Carroll, considering the frustrating foul calls at times, a narrow margin, and the back-and-forth nature of the game, the result was worth it. Several times in a postgame interview, he mentioned his pride in his team not backing down despite the adversity in a challenging road atmosphere.

Now the reward is at least one extra game in Belton. But if the Crusaders have it their way, it’ll be two. And a week from tonight, they will be cutting down the nets in the Mayborn Center for the second straight season, having clinched an NCAA Tournament berth.

“What an end to the regular season,” Carroll said of his team’s 14-game winning streak. “That’s a basketball team that stuck their flag in the ground and decided to go be great. I’m proud of how far these guys have come. We have a lot of basketball ahead of us.”