About the thing only that disappointed Mary Hardin-Baylor fans was when the Crusaders couldn’t produce one last bucket.

UMHB shot the lights out and played suffocating defense before calling off the dogs and coasting to a 98-43 victory over Lake Forest (Ill.) on Monday night in the opening round of the Cru Holiday Classic at Mayborn Campus Center.

The Crusaders, who never have dropped a game in the three-year history of their four-team event, advanced to face NCAA Division III sixth-ranked Wisconsin-Whitewater in the championship game at 5 p.m. today.

The Crusaders’ spot in the title tilt never was in doubt. After a 21-day layoff from competition that followed a 2-4 start to the season, UMHB (3-4) buried the Foresters (1-7) early.

“We worked really hard during the break,” said Crusaders coach Ken DeWeese, whose squad has won 38 of its last 40 games at home. “Playing like this and getting a win like this is very important to us. After the way our season started, we were very fragile.”

UMHB led by double digits less than 4 minutes in and was up 55-18 at intermission after shooting 55 percent from the floor in the first half.

Lake Forest shot only 29 percent for the game and was victimized by 21 steals by the Crusaders.

Senior guard Jason Wagner, who finished with a game-high 19 points in only 16 minutes of action, gave UMHB a 60-18 lead early in the second half and it only got worse from there.

The Crusaders were up by 50 or more points for the final 6½ minutes and led by as many as 62 before the Foresters made a small rally in the closing moments.

Senior guard Elmo Williams scored 12 points in his first game for UMHB, which got 11 points from freshman guard Sterling Phillips.

Lake Forest, which had fewer points than UMHB did rebounds (46), was led by center Travis Clark’s nine points.

“I think we’re still trying to find out who we are,” DeWeese said. “And I think it will be a few more games before we really know.”

edrennan@temple-telegram.com