BELTON, Texas-After a one-point win at McMurry a week ago, the UMHB men’s basketball team is back on its home court, battling Concordia (TX) on Saturday afternoon at the Mayborn Campus Center. UMHB will be looking to improve to above .500 in American Southwest Conference action. The Cru has won the last four home meetings against the Tornadoes.
Setting the Stage
Concordia (TX) (7-9, 4-4 ASC) at Mary Hardin-Baylor (8-7, 4-4 ASC)
Date/Time: January 20, 3:00 p.m. CT
Location: Belton, Texas (Mayborn Campus Center)
Follow the action
WATCH/LISTEN: Jordan Cox (play-by-play) and Carey Leech (color) will broadcast the game on cruathletics.com.
LIVE STATS: Find live stats on cruathletics.com.
The Series
Since the 2000-01 season, UMHB leads the series with Concordia, 40-12. That includes a 24-3 record in games played in Belton, with The Cru posting a 4-1 home record against the Tornadoes under fourth-year head coach Clif Carroll. Concordia holds a 1-0 advantage this season, having beaten UMHB, 88-82, in Austin on Dec. 2 in the ASC opener.
Scouting Concordia
An up-tempo team known for playing with pace, the Tornadoes’ rank No. 2 in the league in points per game, averaging 87.4 entering Saturday’s duel. Concordia comes off a monumental victory over first-place Hardin-Simmons a week ago, emerging with a 103-102 overtime victory in Abilene. It marked HSU’s first loss of conference play.
That is the bright spot in what has been an up-and-down season for head coach Stan Bonewitz’s team thus far. The Tornadoes began league play with a win over UMHB, but dropped five straight to end the calendar year, before getting back in the win column against UT-Dallas. In 2024, Concordia is 3-1.
Donovan Stafford enters Saturday’s game with a team-high 20.3 points per game, having started all 16 contests this season and averaging 31.0 minutes per game. Additionally, DJ Pigford is coming off a 36-point performance at HSU and averages 30.0 minutes per game, along with 17.1 points. Pigford also leads the team in assists (34) and steals (25).
A Look at The Cru
UMHB split last week’s duels in Abilene, falling to HSU, 103-92, before narrowly defeating McMurry in a stellar 84-83 victory. The Cru is 2-2 in the month of January and looking to find traction as the homestretch of the regular season rapidly approaches.
Tied for fourth place in the league with Concordia, UMHB is aiming to solidify its spot in the six-team ASC Tournament, and is led by Josiah Johnson, who averages 20.5 points per game. A senior from Big Sandy, Texas, Johnson has recorded five straight games of 20+ points, and is one of two Crusaders averaging double figures in scoring. Eli Beard, a fellow Big Sandy, Texas product, is the other, averaging 15.3 points and Beard notably scored 26 points in 26 minutes against Hardin-Simmons last week. Johnson is also UMHB’s top rebounder, at 7.9 boards per game. His 8.8 rebounds per contest in conference play ranks No. 2 in the league.
D2 transfer Josh Goings, a native of nearby Salado, Texas, has played in each of UMHB’s last three contests since transferring in mid-year, and averaged 13.0 minutes per game off the bench in Abilene last week. Goings, a skilled guard, is certainly averaging 3.0 points per game.
Zachary Engels has also been a key contributor as of late, averaging 11.8 points per game over The Cru’s first four matchups this month. He is also averaging 4.5 rebounds per game within that span, and his versatility as a 6-foot-4 wing certainly helps UMHB on both ends of the floor.
Keys to Success
At the free throw line: UMHB is the ASC’s best when it comes to free throw shooting, with a league-high 80.4 percent from the charity stripe. Considering opponents have shot 363 free throws in games against Concordia this season–the second-highest mark in the ASC–UMHB is likely to have several opportunities at the foul line. In both games last week, The Cru shot above 84 percent on free throws.
Moving the ball: UMHB’s offense tends to click best when the ball is moving around the perimeter and the passing is in top form. In seven of the Crusaders’ eight wins this season, they have tallied at least 11 assistants, and currently, UMHB is averaging 13.75 assists per game in league play. The Cru had 14 in the win over McMurry, including the assist from Johnson that set up Payton Brooks’ go-ahead 3-pointer.
Strength on defense: One of the major keys to UMHB’s win over McMurry was the consistency with which the Crusaders came up with defensive stops on a number of key second-half possessions, refusing to allow the Warhawks to gain separation. That came as UMHB focused on improved defense after the loss to HSU, especially when it came to getting in a defensive stance early in the possession. Proper positioning was key in allowing UMHB to play hard and defend McMurry in the way The Cru did. Against a fast-paced Concordia squad, that aspect will again be critical to the result.
Up Next
UMHB heads to East Texas next week, facing ETBU on Thursday night in Marshall and LeTourneau on Saturday in Longview.
