Richardson, TX – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men's basketball
team stormed back from a double-digit deficit in the final minutes, but
the comeback fell just short in an 80-76 loss to Concordia Texas in the
Championship Game of the American Southwest Conference Tournament Sunday
in Richardson. UMHB was playing in the ASC title game for the fourth
time in the last six years. The Tornados (23-5) win their first ASC
title and claim the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III
National Championships.
Concordia took a 78-68 lead 1:02
remaining on Josh Sanchez's free-throw. Brian Todd's lay-in cut it to
78-70 with 44 seconds left. UMHB then forced back-to-back turnovers and
Cory Meals and James Allen buried three-pointers to cut the gap to 78-76
with 27 seconds on the clock. The Cru was forced to foul and Terry
Corprew hit both free-throws to make it 80-76 with 19 seconds left. The
Cru missed two three-point shots in the final ten seconds as Concordia
held on for the win. The Tornados led by as many as 16 points in the
second half before UMHB chipped away. The Cru trailed 42-32 at halftime
after shooting just 36 percent in the first half.
Allen
led UMHB with 21 points and Thomas Orr added 20 on 8-14 shooting. Todd
also reached double figures with 14 points. The Cru shot 49 percent from
the field, but went just 15-28 from the free-throw line and turned the
ball over 20 times.
Sanchez led all scorers with 34 for
the Tornados on 10-19 shooting. Dwayne Patterson added 11 before fouling
out midway through the second half. Concordia shot 44 percent from the
field and went 24-36 from the stripe.
Orr and Allen were named to the ASC All-Tournament Team. Sanchez took Tournament MVP honors for the Tornados.
UMHB
drops to 23-5 with the loss and will have to hope for an at-large bid
to the NCAA Division III National Championships. The field will be
announced Monday at 11:30 AM Central Time on www.ncaa.com<http://www.ncaa.com/>.
