Patterson earns first win as UMHB's head coach in offensive outburst against Belhaven

Photo by David Morris

BELTON — Sam Patterson earned his first career win as a head coach on the same day that the UMHB men’s basketball team tied the program mark for the second-most points in a single game, as The Cru took down Belhaven, 117-80.

Saturday’s win gave UMHB its highest single-game scoring total since putting 121 on the board in a triple-overtime loss at Louisiana College on Jan. 5, 2019, and is the most in a regular season home contest in Crusader history. Patterson’s squad, now 1-2 overall, shot 52.6% against the Blazers, including an exceptional 22-of-38 (57.9%) in the second half.

The Cru dominated in nearly every stat category in its first duel with Belhaven since Feb. 17, 2022, with a +32 rebounding margin and 26 assists highlighting the day alongside the scoring totals. 18 different players scored in the 37-point win, led by Donta Coady’s 16 points off the bench. Coady knocked down four shots from beyond the 3-point arc in his 15 minutes on the floor, joined Hudson Johnson (13 pts), Cam Stinson (12 pts), and Grant Jessen (10 pts) as double-digit scorers. An astounding 84 points came off the bench for UMHB.

It gave Patterson a memorable afternoon in only his third game as UMHB’s head coach, and second inside the Mayborn Campus Center. The San Antonio native spent 21 seasons in various roles on staff at Baylor and Oral Roberts before earning his first head coaching job at UMHB this past April.

Coach Patterson gets his first win as HC

GO CRU pic.twitter.com/fEXPYNYF83
— UMHB Basketball🏀 (@cru_basketball) November 22, 2025

The Cru seized the lead early thanks to a 7-0 game-opening run sparked by a pair of fast-break scores from Johnson and Zach May. That lead widened by 11 less than two minutes later, as UMHB scored on three straight possessions, capped by Elijah Lawrence’s layup in transition just under four minutes into the first half.

While UMHB’s offensive success carried on, Belhaven found a spark of its own in junior guard Dan Robinson, who put 10 points on the board in a three-minute span. Robinson hit a pair of 3s before knocking down a jumper that cut the deficit to nine, 29-20.

But The Cru had no problem answering that run from the Blazers. A 3 from Johnson on an assist from Zach Engels pushed the lead back to double-digits, and ignited a 10-0 run. The first half advantage stretched to as many as 23 points on Josiah Wray’s jumper on The Cru’s final possession of the period, as the hosts led 56-34 at the break.

While Robinson brought Belhaven back within 13 points in the early minutes of the second half, UMHB again countered and pulled away. A 9-2 run, led by two 3s from Coady and a three-point play from Johnson on a driving layup, gave The Cru a 20-point advantage. But that was only the precursor to the stretch that ultimately sealed UMHB’s first win of its 2025-26 campaign.

Once again, Coady found the bottom of the net on a 3-pointer. Then came a steal from Lawrence that seamlessly led to a dunk from Coady on the other end. With the momentum in their favor, the Crusaders put on a show over the five minutes, scoring 21 unanswered points as contributions on both ends of the floor came from all over. Trey Seigle connected on a 3 and dished an assist to Josh Pearre on the following possession. Noah Curry came up with a steal and an offensive rebound putback in short succession. Jessen had an assist and a solid jumper in the paint, followed by a rebound on the defensive end. By the time Curry converted on a short-range jumper with 7:06 left, UMHB led 95-57.

The Cru outscored Belhaven 61-45 over the final 20 minutes, with Zeke Niedziela’s first career 3 pushing UMHB to the 117-point mark with 34 seconds left. Niedziela, a freshman from Glen Rose, Texas, was one of six Crusaders that scored their first points in a UMHB uniform on Saturday.

UMHB returns to the Mayborn Campus Center on Tuesday night, hosting Centenary (LA) at 5:30 p.m. CT in non-conference action. The two programs last met during the 2011-12 season in a 93-57 home win for The Cru. The Gents come to Belton looking to put an 0-4 start in the rearview mirror, with three of those four defeats having come by single digits.