AUSTIN, Texas – Joe Neal nearly had a triple-double as the Concordia Texas men's basketball team's second half rally came up short to Mary Hardin-Baylor on Saturday, falling 83-77.

Neal, who is coming off back-to-back American Southwest Conference Player of the Week honors, continued to stay hot against the Cru, finishing with a team-high 25 points, 10 rebounds and dishing out seven assists along with only one turnover.

It was a back-and-forth contest between the Tornados and Cru, which included nine lead changes and eight instances of a tie game.

Concordia Texas would shoot 34 percent from the field, but pulled down 18 offensive rebounds resulting in 19 second-chance points.

In the first half, Spencer Bone had the hot hand, knocking down five 3-pointers in the half as the Tornados opened with an early nine-point lead.

Mary Hardin-Baylor would claw back though and take a three-point edge into the locker room after closing the half on a 7-2 run and led 43-40.

In the second half, the score would never reach a difference bigger than six points.

Ronnie Hamilton, who scored nine of his 11 points in the second frame, would give CTX its first lead of the half after a layup plus the free throw to make it 53-51 with 12:15 to play.

Both teams traded blows as time winded down with the game remaining tied at 75-all after a pair of free throws from Neal with less two minutes to play in the contest.

The Cru would pull away late though, scoring eight of the game's final 10 points, defeating the Tornados 83-77.

Bone would knock down seven 3-pointers from behind the arc and finished with a career-high 22 points.

The loss snaps CTX's five-game winning streak, but they continue to remain atop the ASC West standings.

Next, the Tornados will head on the road to Alpine, Texas to face Sul Ross State on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.