MARSHALL, Texas – Unable to overcome a 57-point second half spurt by the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, the East Texas Baptist University men's basketball team fell to the Crusaders, 90-73, in the opening round of the American Southwest Conference Tournament. The Tigers finish their 2018-19 campaign with an overall record of 12-14.

Chris Haynes led the effort for ETBU, scoring a team-high 19 points on 9-of-12 shooting from the field. Robby Dooley added 18 points and six rebounds, while Westin Riddick added 12 points on four made shots from beyond the arc. Nathan Fontenot dished out a game-high six assists for ETBU.

As a team, the Tigers connected on 48.5 percent shooting from the floor (32-of-66) and just 27.6 percent shooting (8-of-29) from the three point line. ETBU dished out 18 assists to the UMHB's 14 on the game.   LaKendric Hyson led the Cru with 26 points and seven rebounds.  
 
ETBU came out of the gates firing on all cylinders with a layup by Haynes and a three pointer by Spencer Cochran, going on top by five (5-0) in the first minute of the contest. Hyson responded with a turnaround jumper in the post to break the scoring seal for the Cru and bring the score to 5-2 on the following possession. The Tigers responded with a three pointer by Dooley on the breakaway to increase the lead to 8-2 at the 17:15 mark of the first half. A 7-2 run by the Cru narrowed the deficit to one, 10-9, until a floater by Dooley in the teeth of the defense gave the Tigers a three point cushion (12-9) with 14:15 to play in the half. A pair of three pointers by Riddick and Dooley would increase the lead to 10 (25-15) over the next 5:55 of the half. UMHB cut the lead to seven (33-26) in the final minutes of the first half. A layup plus the foul by Haynes would push the ETBU lead back to 10 (36-26) with two minutes to play until halftime. The Tigers would go into the locker room with a 40-33 advantage.

UMHB stormed out of the locker room with all the momentum, with Demarius Cress and Hyson capping off an 8-0 run to go on top 41-40 in the first minute of the second half. The Tigers would trail by one (61-60) at the midway point of the ballgame, when a turnaround jumper by Fontenot gave ETBU its first lead of the second half, at 62-61. The Cru would regain the lead by four, 66-62, over the next two minutes, but a three pointer by Riddick and a layup by Jacob Owens-Bush put the Tigers back on top by one (67-66) with 7:15 remaining in the contest. A layup by Zach Elliott gave ETBU a three point advantage (69-66) but the Cru would eventually pull away, rattling off a 24-4 run to seal the game at 90-73 over the final 6:37 of the game.

ETBU will return all their players from this year's team as there were no seniors.