BELTON, Texas –
Joe Neal scored a career-high 37 points and cemented his name in the program's record books, reaching 1,500 points for his career, but it was not enough as the Concordia Texas men's basketball team suffered a heartbreaking 104-101 defeat to Mary Hardin-Baylor on Saturday.
Neal becomes the sixth player in program history to reach the 1,500-point milestone and after his 37-point scoring output moved up to fifth all-time with 1,536 career points, surpassing Brad Walker.
Philip Meikle, meanwhile, exploded for a career-high 37 points as well, including 31 coming in the second half alone.
In the first half, the Cru would jump out to an early 24-13 lead. Neal, one point away from 1,500, heated up, surpassing the milestone on a layup plus the foul with 10:11 to play. He would go on to score the next 11 points for the Tornados and closed the gap to 30-26 with eight minutes to play in the half.
A late UMHB 3-pointer to close out the half gave them a 47-44 edge as the teams went to the locker room.
In the second half, Meikle would find his stroke from beyond the arc, going 7-of-11 from downtown. He would hit three straight 3-pointers in the first two minutes of the second half and put the Tornados back on top at 53-51.
The teams would continue to go back-and-forth throughout the second half.
Concordia Texas would trail 100-94 with over two minutes to go, but would climb back within one after a Meikle 3-pointer and a Neal layup. After a Cru technical foul, Neal would knock down a pair of free-throws to give the Tornados a 101-100 edge.
Mary Hardin-Baylor, though, would retake the lead in the final minute after making four straight free throws and held a 104-101 lead with six seconds to play.
Meikle would look to force overtime with his last second 3-pointer attempt, but missed left and CTX fell to the Cru.
Up next, the Tornados will return home to host Howard Payne on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. inside Concordia Fieldhouse.
