UMHB built an 11-point halftime lead, then withstood LeTourneau’s second-half charge to secure a 73-62 victory Friday night in the first round of the men’s American Southwest Conference Tournament.
By winning the third game of the day at UTD Activity Center, the Crusaders (19-7) took the first step in defending their conference title. Next up for West Division second-seeded UMHB is a semifinal date with host and East top seed Texas-Dallas (22-4) at 3:30 p.m. today.
The winner of that one will advance to Sunday’s final against the winner of the semifinal between McMurry (18-4) and Mississippi College (19-6).
“This one’s over now,” said Crusaders senior wing Tilmon Gaddy, who played 37 of the 40 minutes and scored a game-high 20 points. “We’re fixing to get focused on UT-Dallas or Sul Ross right now.”
Having clinched its tournament berth weeks ago, UMHB closed the regular season by doing just enough to carry a nine-game winning streak into the eight-team event.
On the north side of Dallas on Friday, the Crusaders showed the type of spark that helped them make NCAA Division III Tournament appearances each of the last two years.
“I think it showed that our guys have been waiting on this for a long time,” 11th-year UMHB coach Ken DeWeese said. “In fact, I was a little worried that we were too ready for it a week ago.”
The Crusaders took control with an 8-0 burst midway through the second half, then put together a 10-4 run in the final minutes before intermission to grab a 34-23 lead at the break.
It was the last time UMHB was allowed to catch its breath as the Yellow Jackets (16-10) turned an already physical affair into a brutal one in the second half.
With suffocating defense on the inside and the hot hands of junior guard Dale Vanwright and senior post Dusty Evers, LeTourneau trimmed the gap to 44-43 with 13:37 still remaining.
UMHB manufactured only one field goal during one six-minute stretch but matched the Yellow Jackets’ physicality to keep a constant grip on the lead.
“We just went flat,” DeWeese said. “We went through an emotional low for a while. We were still working. We just weren’t getting anything out of it.”
Added Gaddy: “A physical game always takes a little out of your team. But if that’s the way a team wants to play, that’s fine with us. Our motto is, ‘Don’t get pushed. Push back.’”
With LeTourneau still hanging around - down just 59-55 with 5:10 to go - UMHB senior guard Jason Wagner hit a pull-up jumper for two of his 14 second-half points to reignite the Crusaders.
“Coach told us at halftime that they were going to come out hard and that we had to weather the storm,” said Wagner, who scored 19 points. “So that’s what we had to do.”
With the Jackets forced to foul down the stretch, the Crusaders closed the game on a 12-5 run to seal it.
Senior guard Elmo Williams added 13 points for UMHB, and senior post David Ray muscled his way to nine points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
Evers had 18 points and Vanwright and JJ Rockmore had 15 apiece for LeTourneau, which shot 48 percent from the field - to UMHB’s 41 percent - but was just 5-of-10 from the foul line. The Crusaders were 19-for-27 from the stripe.
“I think it was big that they shot so many free throws,” Yellow Jackets coach Bob Davis said. “You look at the stats and we attempted about the same number of 3-pointers and total shots, so you’d think we’d get to the line every bit as much as them. It didn’t happen.
“But you have to fight through that stuff if you’re going to be a championship program.”
As it turned out, there almost was a fight. With the constant pounding of the physical game wearing on both squads in the final minutes, officials had to step in and separate the teams when a shoving match broke out prior to a free throw attempt with 1:24 left.
“How much this game will affect us kind of depends on what happens with UT-Dallas and Sul Ross now,” DeWeese said. “But the physicality of this game will show on us at some point in the next game."
edrennan@temple-telegram.com
