Texas Lutheran (9-4, 8-2 ASC West) received a big spark from back-up point guard Kevin Glienke, who started in place of injured guard Jason Morales. Glienke scored 12 points and hit three three-pointers in the second half.
Each of Glienke’s three-pointers came at important times in the second half. His first three tied the game at 32 with 12:56 to play. His second three gave TLU a four-point lead with 7:23 left in the game.
Glienke’s final three-pointer of the night came with TLU nursing a 1-point lead with just more than two minutes to play.
Mary Hardin-Baylor fell to 8-5 overall and to 6-4 in the ASC West Division.
Nik Summers led TLU with 17 points. The senior guard hit four three-pointers and added eight rebounds. Bulldog senior post Tommy Stolhandske grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds and scored 13 points.
Both teams struggled on offense. TLU hit just 35.4 percent of its field goal attempts, and Mary Hardin-Baylor managed just 33.9 percent from the field. TLU starters Matt Nelson and Mike Ekanem were a combined 1-for-13 from the field, and UMHB starters Brand Gatlin, Corey Epps and Adam Weise shot a combined 4-for-21.
Gatlin, the conference’s third-leading scorer at 19.8 points per game, was held to six points on 2-of-8 shooting. He had three assists and four steals.
Michael Blaylock led the Crusaders with 18 points.
Mary Hardin-Baylor out-rebounded TLU 37-32 and forced seven more turnovers (17-10), but the Bulldogs held a distinct advantage from the three-point line. TLU hit eight three-pointers (8-of-22) while UMHB struggled from the three-point arc, making just one of its 11 three-point attempts.
Texas Lutheran continues conference play Saturday with a 3 p.m. matchup against Concordia-Austin. Game time in TLU’s Memorial Gymnasium is 3 p.m.