On the opening weekend of ASC play, UMHB women’s basketball wins fifth straight, Crusader men fall, at Concordia

Photo by Luke Zayas/True To The Cru

AUSTIN- Jordan Bravo’s 3-pointer cut the Mary Hardin-Baylor lead to a mere five points with 2:54 left in Saturday’s American Southwest Conference opener. And just like that, Concordia sensed a window of opportunity. 

With the momentum leaning in favor of the host Tornadoes, UMHB women’s basketball head coach Katie Novak-Lenoir called a 30-second timeout, rallying her squad prior to what was certain to be a pivotal stretch. 

And in the first possession out of the timeout, Alexis Carmosino caught a pass from Jaycie Brisco and swished a jump-shot, extending UMHB’s lead to 74-67. Remi Adeleke followed with a layup for a nine-point Crusader advantage, and while Concordia briefly cut the deficit back to six, UMHB played lights-out defense down the stretch, holding the Tornadoes scoreless for the final 1:34. 

It yielded a fifth straight victory for the visitors from Belton, who are 5-1 in Novak-Lenoir’s first season at the helm. Arieona Rosborough led the offensive effort with 20 points. 

The win did not come easily, as that final three-minute stretch revealed. For the better part of the fourth quarter, Concordia built momentum, ending the game in similar fashion to the way the contest began, outscoring The Cru, 23-14. But UMHB had already separated the margin enough, gaining a 63-41 lead late in the third quarter. 

The Tornadoes opened the contest in front, jumping out with a 6-0 lead by the 8:35 mark of the first quarter. As UMHB struggled to find its offensive footing, Concordia maintained its advantage, leading 11-5 on Bravo’s second 3-pointer of the afternoon. Each of those first five points for the Crusaders came from Kaitlyn Kollmorgen, marking the second straight game in which the Houston native accounted for UMHB’s first five points. 

With 2:05 left in the opening quarter, Ella Hartmann stepped up with a 3-pointer, at last tying the score at 15 apiece. Brisco followed with a 3 of her own, and UMHB seized the lead. The Cru ended the first quarter on a 5-2 run, and Concordia trailed for the remainder of the contest, outside of tying the score once midway through the second. 

That said, it stayed incredibly close until the half, with each possession holding great importance as UMHB’s lead never widened beyond six points. 

Then came the third quarter, and The Cru took control. A 12-1 scoring spurt midway through, sparked by five straight points from Remi Adeleke. It turned out to be a 27-point quarter for UMHB, and set the Crusaders up with a 64-47 lead heading into the final 10 minutes. 

Despite Concordia’s late rally, UMHB sealed the victory, and has now won five of its first six games in each of the last two seasons. 

Adeleke and Carmosino joined Rosborough in double figures, with 12 points  apiece. Brisco posted an outstanding performance, scoring eight points along with a team-high nine rebounds and seven assists. Rosborough tallied four of UMHB’s 12 steals in the victory. 

Concordia comes from behind, hands UMHB men a fourth-straight loss

In the men’s game that followed, UMHB saw yet another potential victory slip through its grasp, as Concordia used a big second half and erased the Crusaders’ 44-38 halftime lead. Competitive through both halves, the Tornadoes handed UMHB a fourth-straight loss, snapping a two-game losing skid of their own in an 88-82 victory. 

The Cru drops to 2-4 overall, and 0-1 in the ASC, with its last win having come on Nov. 11, when UMHB scored a 71-68 victory over Illinois Wesleyan in the second game of the season. Concordia improves to 4-3, and more importantly, 1-0 in the American Southwest Conference. 

The most pivotal stretch of the contest unfolded in the final minutes of the second half, as UMHB cut the deficit to a single point, 75-74, with 4:44 left. Though the Crusaders trailed for much of the final 10 minutes, they briefly held the lead at a handful of points in that span, with the last such occurrence coming with 6:29 to go, on Zachary Engels’ driving layup. 

Engels’ presence in the lineup was a welcome sign after the talented sophomore wing missed consecutive games due to injury, and he contributed greatly, with 17 points, four rebounds, and six assists. 

But even with the contributions of Engels and Ryan Pondant, who scored 20, Concordia found separation down the stretch. It began with a jump-shot from Donovan Stafford at the 3:33 mark, and the Tornadoes added three more points within the next minute. Dylan Scales’ short-range jumper put the hosts up, 82-76, as UMHB fought back. 

Eli Beard and Pondant made layups on consecutive possessions, cutting the Concordia lead to 85-81 with 55 seconds left. Though UMHB forced a missed 3-pointer from Stafford, the Crusaders were unable to get any closer. A missed layup with 20 seconds on the clock sealed the Tornadoes’ victory, as they made three straight free throws down the stretch. 

It was not unlike UMHB’s losses to Texas Lutheran and St. Thomas, which also came by single digits, and saw the Crusaders lead late in the second half. It also marks Concordia’s second straight home win over UMHB, as the Tornadoes won, 81-77, in last year’s meeting in Austin. 

The fast-paced style of play came as no surprise, with Concordia known for pushing the ball in transition and utilizing full-court pressure on the defensive end. It did not seem to faze UMHB much in the opening half, however, as The Cru broke Concordia’s press with ease and ended several possessions with open layups. UMHB finished with 32 points in the paint. 

In fact, UMHB got out to a 13-2 lead, converting on four of its first five shots, including a pair of 3-pointers. Things clicked on all cylinders out of the gate, but as quick as the scoring run had been, the Crusaders went cold offensively. And Concordia shifted the momentum. 

The Tornadoes scored the game’s next 11 points, knotting the score at 13 apiece. Then came another double-digit run from UMHB, with 12 straight points, eight of which were scored by Pondant. That advantage widened to as many as 15 points at the 10:23 mark, and it was not until the seven-minute mark of the half that Concordia cut the deficit back to single digits. 

Even then, UMHB stretched the lead right back to 14 on a pair of free throws from Payton Brooks. But Concordia closed the opening half on an 8-1 run, as UMHB led by six. 

That carried over into the second half, which proved to be much more closely contested, though UMHB led for the first five minutes. Stafford gave Concordia its first lead of the contest on a trio of free throws at the 14:35 mark, as the Tornadoes went up 54-52. 

That ultimately led to the dramatic conclusion, with Concordia beating UMHB for just the eighth time at home since 2000. Aside from Pondant and Engels, Beard added 15 points. Josiah Johnson scored just six points and recorded just two shots, but grabbed nine rebounds. Engels tallied six assists and Johnson contributed with five. 

Up Next

Looking ahead, the Crusaders host LeTourneau in an ASC doubleheader on Thursday night in Belton. The women battle the Yellowjackets at 5:30 p.m. at the Mayborn Campus Center and the men will follow at 7:30 p.m.