“I’m more concerned about the sister of one of my players (junior guard Tim Lytle) than anything else,” he continued, referring to a medical emergency that stopped action with 2:26 remaining in the game.
Lytle, who scored four points after his sister was transported from the arena by EMS personnel, had 21 points for UMHB as it held off a determined comeback by the Choctaws.
The victory improved UMHB to 3-0 for the season and 2-0 in American Southwest Conference play.
Despite leading by 21 points with 18:20 remaining in the game, the Crusaders had their lead dwindle to five points on four occasions - the last at 69-64 with 4:30 to go.
Mississippi College, the defending ASC champion, had to rebound from a horrible start. The Choctaws made just 10 of 36 shots in the first half and missed seven of nine in the opening minutes of the second half.
However, the shots began to fall for Mississippi College and it began to dominate the boards and feed off of turnovers. Outrebounded in the first half, the Choctaws posted a 28-16 edge on the boards in the second half.
The visitors used a 14-1 run as the major culprit to bedevil the Crusaders as a game that fit like a tank top early suddenly became a shirt with a starched, tight collar. UMHB’s margin shrank from 50-32 to 51-46 with 11:32 to go.
The Choctaws, with Michael Penson and Tyler Winford leading the comeback, reduced the lead to five at 55-50 and 57-52.
UMHB finally started breaking the momentum of the comeback with 4:16 as Lytle canned a 3-point shot and Mississippi College unintentionally gave the Crusaders a push.
In a very unseasonable move, Christmas was called for a technical foul - the Choctaws’ KiKi Christmas, that is. Lytle put down both free throws and leading scorer Tillman Gaddy (23 points) added another free throw to jack the lead to 75-64.
Lytle then punctuated things with a 3 from deep in the corner to make the lead 78-64 with 2:31 to go.
After play resumed from the incident in the stands, Mississippi College was unable to reduce the lead to less than seven points.
DeWeese kept junior point guard Matt Caskey (Salado/Temple College) on the court for 38 minutes, while Gaddy and Matt Dickey were in action for 34 and 33 minutes, respectively. UMHB 6-10 senior center Ryan Burgart played just 22 minutes, scoring 10 points and grabbing four rebounds.
Mississippi College coach Mike Jones, who played platoon basketball for much of the game, used 12 of his 18 players, with none logging more than 24 minutes. Winford and Penson scored 20 and 17, respectively.
The Crusaders shot 55.8 percent for the game, while Mississippi College, which had good success from 3-point range in the second half, still finished with a 33.7 reading for the game.
Mississippi College, which had no starter taller than 6-6, took a 49-40 advantage on the boards.
UMHB now will take to the road for three games before breaking for the holidays. The Crusaders play at Incarnate Word on Dec. 12, Texas-Tyler on Dec. 15 and Texas-Dallas on Dec. 17.
UMHB women edge MC, move to 2-0 in conference
BELTON - The Mary Hardin-Baylor women claimed a 68-62 victory over Mississippi College in a game that was tied eight times and had 13 lead changes.
The victory allowed the Lady Crusaders to improve to 2-1 for the season and 2-0 in the ASC.
Landie Thompson scored 23 points to lead the Lady Crusaders, while Belton graduate Blair Heitmiller added 10 points.
UMHB outshot the Lady Choctaws 41.5 percent to 35.5 and claimed a 42-34 advantage on the boards, with Thompson posting a game-high nine rebounds.
The Lady Crusaders will go on the road for two games prior to the holday break. They play at Texas-Tyler on Dec. 15 and at Texas-Dallas on Dec. 17.
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