The Crusaders led by 11 at 66-55 with 8:46 remaining in the game and UMHB was up 73-63 with 6:14 to go. Howard Payne then went on a 13-2 run capped by Lee Scott’s three-pointer to take a 76-75 lead with 2:11 to play. Kendrick Johnson added a three-pointer to make it 79-75 with 1:41 left before Justin Schwartz lay-in cut the lead to 79-77. Scott hit a pair of free-throws to put HPU up 81-77 with 21 seconds left. Neiman Ford’s lay-up pulled UMHB to within 81-79 with four seconds remaining. HPU’s Cliff McGuire then missed the front end of a one-and-one and Kevin Guyden’s desperation three-pointer was off the mark at the buzzer for UMHB. The Crusaders led 39-38 at halftime after a first-half that featured six ties and two lead changes.
Patrick Oliver and Chris Poole led UMHB with 15 points apiece and Oliver also grabbed a team-high six rebounds. Kevin Guyden and Ryan Burgart added 13 points apiece for the Crusaders. Kendrick Johnson topped Howard Payne with 23 points and he added seven rebounds. Johnson scored 21 of his 23 points in the second half and hit 5-7 from three-point range. Sean Wheeler had 15 points and nine rebounds and Scott came off the bench to score 10 points. HPU shot 54 per cent from the field and went 11-25 from three-point range. UMHB shot 53 per cent from the field and went 5-19 from beyond the arc.
UMHB will now hit the road for a pair of ASC West Division games next week. The Crusaders will take on Sul Ross State in a 7:30 PM tip-off Thursday night in Alpine before taking on HPU in a rematch next Saturday at 1:00 PM in Brownwood.