Pats routed by UMHB, season comes to an end

The University’s men’s basketball team failed to hold a lead in their season’s final game Friday evening in Belton.

Mary Hardin-Baylor defeated the Patriots 82-61 in the first round of the American Southwest Conference tournament. The Patriots missed eight of the first nine shots as the Crusaders built a 10 point lead in the game’s first six minutes.

The Crusaders scored on their next three possessions, which spurred a 14-4 run. Mary Hardin-Baylor continued to build their lead behind Sterling Phillips, who finished the first half with 11 points and shooting 4-6 from the floor.

The Patriots struggled the entire half, shooting 24 percent from the floor, and trailed by 16 at halftime. The Crusaders lead remained above 13 for the second half.

Theo Ard picked up his play, scoring eight points early in the half. He finished the game with 12 points and 15 rebounds. Phillips continued to control the game and scored an additional 12 points in the half. He also led all scorers with 23 points in the game.

Todd Brian finished the game with 10 for Mary Hardin-Baylor. Michael Johnson found his stroke in the final half for the Patriots, scoring 11 points in 10 minutes on the court. Johnson finished the game with 13 points and five rebounds. Josh Twine ended the game with 10 points and five rebounds for the Patriots.

The Patriots finished the game shooting 33 percent, 27 percent from behind the arc, and end their season with a record of 15-11, an all-time high in wins.

Hakeem Kareem led the Patriots with 13.3 points and 8.2 rebounds per game in his final season, shooting 48 percent from the floor. Kareem also led the team in minutes played with 709 and finishes his career fourth on the Patriots all-time scoring list, second all-time in games played, sixth all-time in minutes played and second on the all-time rebounds list.

Johnson and Neal Welch followed Kareem with 9.1 points per game. Dexter McMarion finished the season with 8.2 points per game. Johnson led the team in assists with 76. McMarion followed with 70. Welch led the team in free throw percentage with 81.3 percent. Kareem followed with 75.9 percent.
Twine and Kevin Murray led the team in field goal percentage.

Twine finished the season shooting 54.4 percent from the floor; Murray 51.1 percent. The Patriots finished the season shooting 41.9 percent as a team, 34 percent from behind the arc and scoring 70.7 points per game, and outscoring their opponents 1837-1738 for the year.