BOX SCORE

Belton, Texas – Josh Johnson netted a career-high 25 points and Tayler Jacobs made four clutch free throws in the waning seconds as the Concordia University Texas men's basketball team rallied to earn an 89-85 road victory over Mary Hardin-Baylor on Monday, Jan. 3 at the Mayborn Campus Center. The Tornados trailed by 20 points in the second half before coming back to escape with the four-point win.

Mary Hardin-Baylor's 13-point halftime lead ballooned to 20 when Cory Meals canned a 3-pointer with 15:26 left in regulation, giving the hosts a commanding 57-37 advantage. However, the Tornados never gave up and never gave in by chipping away at the deficit for the rest of the night. After grabbing his second offensive rebound on the same possession, Justin Reefer drained a trifecta to make it a 76-71 ballgame with 5:37 left. Concordia took its first lead of the second half, 83-82, when Kenny Williams drained a three from the left arc with just over two minutes left before the wild finish.

“We talked to the guys at halftime about the fact that we didn't really compete in the first half,” explained head coach Stan Bonewitz, whose team rallied in the second frame to win and move into a four-way tie for first place in the West Division standings. “Hopefully our team sees that when they compete hard that good things can happen. Mary Hardin-Baylor is a very good ballclub.”

Mary Hardin-Baylor, which had its six-game winning streak snapped, regained the lead it had for most of the second half on the next possession courtesy of a good jumper by Sterling Phillips. But the Tornados responded again on the opposite side of the floor and went up 85-84 when Connor Davenport sank two free throws. After Phillips missed a contested jumper on the next play which would have put his team on top, the Cru were forced to foul and sent Jacobs to the charity stripe.

Ken DeWeese tried to freeze the sophomore point guard by calling a timeout, but it didn't work. Jacobs was able to come through following the short break by making both of his free throws to give the Tornados an 87-84 advantage with seven ticks left.

Chris McDermott fouled Phillips and sent him to the free throw line with 3.1 seconds remaining, avoiding a chance for the Cru to tie the game and force overtime with a 3-pointer. After Phillips made only his second of two shots, Jacobs was fouled following the inbounds pass and put the game on ice by sinking both of his opportunities at the other end.

“I was just thinking that we needed to get this win,” offered Jacobs after hitting four clutch free throws in the final seconds to seal the victory. “I have been in this situation in high school when I needed to make my shots for us to go to states, and I just felt at home tonight.”

Mary Hardin-Baylor (8-2, ASC 4-2), which has advanced to three of the last four NCAA Tournaments, took advantage of a flurry of Tornado fouls to break open up a game that was tightly contested for the first 15 minutes. The Cru, who scored most of their first-half points at the charity stripe, went ahead by a 27-26 score thanks to a good jumper by Marlon Miller. The shot sparked a 14-2 run to end the half, which was capped by a Kitrick Bell free throw.

“We shouldn't have been down like we were in the first place, but this just shows how much drive we've got and how much we believe in each other,” added Jacobs, whose squad trailed by a 41-28 score at halftime. “If we can just put both halves together, then anything is possible.”

Johnson just missed a double-double by scoring 25 points and grabbing nine rebounds to spark Concordia, which has won two straight games. He also blocked three shots. Jacobs contributed 18 points and three assists, while Reefer registered his second straight double-double with 12 points and 10 boards. Nick Haynes netted 10 points. Mary Hardin-Baylor was paced by Phillips and Miller, who posted 20 and 19 points, respectively.

Concordia (6-4, ASC 4-2) opens a three-game homestand on Thursday, Jan. 6 when it hosts Texas-Dallas at 7:30 p.m.