Salem, VA – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men's basketball team
did not want the dance to end and down the stretch the Cru refused to
lose and made program and conference history in the process. UMHB
rallied from a double-digit second half deficit to knock off the College
of St. Mary's of Maryland 69-66 in the NCAA Division III National
Quarterfinals Friday
afternoon in Salem, Virginia. The Cru moves on to the National
Semifinals for the first time in program history and UMHB is the first
team from the American Southwest Conference or the state of Texas to
advance to the semifinals of the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball
National Championships.
The Cru fell behind 48-38 with
14:14 left in the game before cutting the gap to 51-50 following behind
four points apiece from Kitrick Bell, Sidney Deloach and Thomas Orr. St.
Mary's pushed it back to six points at 60-54 with 4:49 left to play.
Bell converted a three-point play, Cory Meals hit a jumper and Layton
Zinsmeister buried a three to tie the game at 62 with 3:02 remaining.
The Seahawks would score at the other end, but Meals swished a three to
give the Cru the lead for good at 65-64 with 2:19 on the clock. Brian
Todd's dunk stretched the lead to three, but Brandon McFall's put-back
closed the gap to 67-66 with 1:18 left. St. Mary's turned the ball over
with nine seconds to play and Orr hit two free throws to give UMHB a
69-66 edge. St. Mary's had one final shot, but a three was way off the
mark at the buzzer, setting off a wild celebration on the UMHB bench.
The
Cru was cold in the first half, hitting just 31 percent from the field.
The Seahawks built a six-point halftime lead at 32-26 with Orr's
shooting keeping UMHB within range. Orr had 12 of the Cru's 26
first-half points.
Orr finished with a game-high 26
points and he added eight rebounds. Bell posted a double-double with 15
points and 11 rebounds and Meals also scored 15. UMHB shot 50 percent
from the field in the second half and finished at 41 percent for the
game. The two teams pulled down 40 rebounds each and combined for just
14 turnovers.
James Davenport led St. Mary's with 16
points and Troy Spurrier came off the bench to score 14. The Seahawks
shot just 42 percent from the field and were just 6-25 from three-point
range in the loss.
UMHB will now face the University of
St. Thomas (MN) in a 5:00 PM Central Time (6:00 PM Eastern) semifinal
game. The winner of that contest will advance to the NCAA Division III
National Championship Game on April 7th
at Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. The Cru moves to 26-5 on the
season and also ties the school single record for wins in a year. The
loss ends the Seahawks season at 27-4.
