File photo: Eli Beard shoots a 3-pointer against Hardin-Simmons in the regular season finale on February 17, 2024. Beard finished with 18 points in the rematch with HSU on Friday night. (Photo by Luke Zayas/True To The Cru)
ABILENE, Texas–Facing Hardin-Simmons for the second time in six days with a spot in the ASC championship game on the line, the UMHB men’s basketball team saw its 10-point halftime lead evaporate within the first six minutes of the second half.
But The Cru did not waver, despite the pressure. And on Hardin-Simmons’ home court in the conference tournament semifinals, UMHB battled back from a six-point deficit with 11:16 left. The visitors from Belton defended their lead down the stretch, and stunned the home crowd in Abilene with a 76-69 victory, clinching a spot in the ASC Championship Game for the second time under head coach Clif Carroll, who is in his fourth year leading the program.
“That was a really tough game,” Carroll said in the postgame press conference. “When Hardin-Simmons made that run and pushed it out to seven, for us to step up and come back was really good. Games like this are special for me, because you get to see the best of two very competitive teams.”
UMHB battles UT-Dallas on Saturday night in Abilene at 6 p.m., with the winner earning a bid to the NCAA Tournament. UMHB is seeking a third-straight NCAA Tournament appearance when the Crusaders take the floor against the Comets.
The Cru shot 44.3 percent from the field in the win, and was 17-of-21 at the free throw line, two numbers that proved especially key as the contest unfolded. A balanced scoring effort was led by Eli Beard, who had 18 points, alongside Josiah Johnson and Zachary Engels, who each scored 14. Ryan Pondant played an especially significant role in the post, and tallied 11 points and eight rebounds in 20 minutes.
A back-and-forth first half saw Beard score 10 of UMHB’s first 15 points as The Cru jumped out to a 15-11 lead by the 13:50 mark. HSU twice cut the deficit to two—both times after layups from Jason Justice—but never got any closer in the first half.
An 8-0 scoring run from UMHB quickly quieted the home crowd after Justice pulled the Cowboys within two, 24-22, as a layup from Johnson capped the spurt for a 32-22 advantage. The 10-point lead was UMHB’s first double-digit advantage of the evening, and widened to 13 on a trio of key layups from Pondant within the final two minutes. The Cru took a 38-28 lead into the halftime intermission.
But HSU answered out of the break with a massive run of its own, however, scoring 13 of the first 17 points of the second half. Austin Brewer led the Cowboys’ comeback with eight points in that span, including a pair of 3-pointers, and a layup from Brewer with 15:31 left cut the UMHB lead down to a single point, 42-41.
Just over a minute later, HSU took the lead for the first time since the 17:59 mark of the opening half, as Justice converted on a jumper that made it 45-44. The lead changed hands three times in a one-minute stretch, and HSU, aided by a vocal home crowd, took charge. Will Bartoszek connected on a 3-pointer and Brewer brought the crowd to its feet with a two-handed dunk on a fast-break, as the Cowboys went up, 55-49.
Then came a counter from The Cru. UMHB clawed back into contention, first with a 3-pointer from Johnson that briefly cut the deficit to three, and then a set of crucial scores from Abilene native Payton Brooks completely reversed the momentum. With 9:24 left, Brooks came through with a three-point play, cutting the HSU lead to 59-57. Then with 8:13, Brooks pushed the ball in transition off of a steal, and raced the length of the floor before going for a layup while he was fouled. He got the layup to go, and converted on the free throw, putting UMHB back in the lead, 60-59.
HSU took back the lead one more time, but Engels scored the next five points for The Cru, and gave UMHB separation. Down the stretch, UMHB’s defense came up big time and time again, with a number of key stops and contested HSU shots. The Cowboys finished the game shooting 1-of-6 from the field over the final five minutes, while UMHB converted on 6-of-8 free throw attempts within that span.
“We’ve played a lot of really big basketball games with this group,” Carroll noted, motioning to Zachary Engels, Josiah Johnson, and Eli Beard, who sat at the press conference table on either side of him. “We don’t panic. That’s a strength of our program, and a strength of our culture. If we stay true to what we want done, and keep faith in each other, more times than not, we’ll come out on top.”
This article will be updated with postgame quotes and additional notes.
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