BELTON, Texas – The Concordia University Texas men's basketball team saw its five-game winning streak come to an end on Tuesday night after Mary Hardin-Baylor rallied for a 76-74 American Southwest Conference (ASC) victory at the Mayborn Campus Center.
The Cru (7-4, 5-3 ASC) trailed for a majority of the second half. It was not until Antonie Chaney hit a 3-pointer with 2:05 to play in regulation that gave UMHB a 72-70 lead in the final frame.
The Tornados (8-3, 5-3 ASC) answered on the ensuing possession as
Josh Sanchez connected on a pull-up jumper.
The two teams traded the next two baskets and were tied at 74-74 with 16 seconds to play.
After
Dwayne Patterson's shot went in to tie the game, Mary Hardin-Baylor decided to play out the possession without calling a timeout. Chaney drove into the lane and handed off the ball to his left where Kitrick Bell was waiting and hit the layup with 3.6 left.
Concordia Texas inbounded the ball and advanced it to halfcourt before calling a timeout. With 2.0 seconds to play, Patterson attempted to inbound, but his pass was intercepted by Kevin Waller in the lane and time expired.
The Tornados trailed 34-24 with 6:32 in the opening panel. However, CTX ripped off a 16-0 run to close out the half and grabbed a six-point advantage.
Concordia carried the momentum into the second half, where it scored the first six points of the frame and held the Cru scoreless until the 17:17 mark.
Overall, Mary Hardin-Baylor was held scoreless for a 9:15 stretch in the contest that allowed the Tornados to take a 46-34 lead.
CTX continued to lead by double digits at the 7:43 mark (67-57) before UMHB mounted a comeback.
The Cru posted a 19-7 run to close out the contest, which was capped off by Bell's layup.
James Allen led all scorers with 27 points, while Chaney added 1. Bell scored 10 points and Jerard Graham collected a game-high 16 rebounds to pace the hosts.
Meanwhile, Sanchez poured in 23 points and Patterson scored 18.
Adam Whitlock chipped in with 10 points, six of which came in the second stanza.
Concordia will return to action on Thursday night when it hosts Ozarks. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Concordia Fieldhouse.
