Rivals Mary Hardin-Baylor and Hardin-Simmons went toe-to-toe for 40 minutes Saturday, when the Cowboys got off the mat once before the Crusaders put them away for good in a 60-55 semifinal victory at the American Southwest Conference Tournament.
In chalking up its 26th consecutive victory at Mayborn Campus Center, 14th-ranked UMHB earned its first berth in the tournament’s title game.
The Crusaders (24-3), who set a school record for single-season wins, will face fellow finals rookie Concordia Texas (19-8) at 2 p.m. today. The winner will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament, and UMHB is considered a heavy favorite to receive an at-large bid even if it loses today.
“It will be a totally different type of game because of the style Concordia plays,” UMHB coach Ken DeWeese said. “But we’re going to get out a little and run with them.
“We feel like we’re going to be in the NCAA Tournament either way. What we’re playing for is that ASC title, so we’re going to lace them up and see what happens.”
What happened in the semifinal for the Crusaders was a hot start, a near-collapse and a solid finish.
HSU (15-12), which defeated UMHB in last year’s semifinal round, was all but buried early. The Crusaders shot 59 percent in the first half and held the Cowboys scoreless for a stretch of 6½ minutes.
UMHB led by as many as 14 in the first half and went into the break up 33-26.
“I had to call one timeout to chew on my guys and another one to build them up,” HSU coach Dylan Howard said. “Then we got some matchup problems worked out and we played well for most of the second half.”
Tilmon Gaddy scored two of his team-high 14 points to stretch the Crusaders’ lead to 47-37 with 9:58 remaining in the second half before the Cowboys answered.
Casey Riddle hit a 3-pointer and Dan Jean got loose for a pair of buckets inside to fuel a 15-4 run that put HSU out front for the time at 52-51 with 5:07 remaining.
UMHB pulled it out down the stretch despite not recording a field goal after David Ray’s pull-up jumper with 7:19 to go.
The Crusaders led 56-55 with 2:14 showing after Gaddy hit a pair of free throws and Matt Caskey made three of four at the line to offset a Mardochee Jean dunk and a Riddle free throw.
Caskey’s trip to the stripe with 2:14 to go came courtesy of Mardochee Jean’s fifth foul. He finished with 13 points and eight rebounds.
With their leading scorer out, the Cowboys didn’t score again. Riddle, Charlie Pannell and Rian Stubbs missed mid-range jumpers, and Marcus Smith and Rob Yeatts - who had 13-first-half points but none after intermission - missed 3-point attempts.
Gaddy dropped in two free throws for a three-point lead with a minute left, and Neiman Ford was perfect from the line to ice it with 6 seconds to go.
After its hot start, UMHB cooled off to a 30-percent shooting performance in the second half.
“HSU played great in the second half and down the stretch,” DeWeese said. “It wasn’t anything we really did wrong, but the credit goes to HSU for making the run.”
Ford, a senior who couldn’t work out with the Crusaders until mid-December because he had only one semester of eligibility remaining, had 13 points on 4-of-8 shooting from the field and a 4-for-4 effort from the line.
He likely will compete in his second NCAA Tournament next week but will be playing for his first ASC crown today.
“We’ve been trying to get to this game for a few years, and I guess my time finally came,” Ford said. “The NCAA Tournament is next week and we’ll worry about that then. Right now we’re focused on this one. We play to win every game. Even if it’s practice, we’re trying to win.”
Ray had 12 points and Caskey added 10 for UMHB, which was 18-of-24 from the line in a physical game.
“That’s just the way it is when these two schools play, and it doesn’t matter if it’s football, basketball or baseball,” Howard said. “These are two very competitive schools who respect each other, so it’s going to be physical and it’s usually going to be a great game.”
NOTES: The field and bracket for the NCAA Tournament will be released Monday morning. . . . The arena became hazy and there was an odor as if something was burning during the second half. The referees conferred with school officials and play continued. About 20 minutes after the game, university officials said they did not know the cause of the problem but had a large number of maintenance workers scouring the building.
edrennan@temple-telegram.com
