BELTON, Texas – Down five points with just over two minutes to play, 63-58, East Texas Baptist held #25 University of Mary Hardin-Baylor scoreless, going on a 7-0 run for the upset win, 65-63. Jason Justice scored the final four points in the last 40 seconds with the game-winning shot with three seconds left. ETBU was down by 15 points with 10 minutes to go in the game before making their comeback. The Tigers are now 6-13 and 2-1 in the American Southwest Conference.
 
It is ETBU's first win over a ranked opponent since the 2022-23 season, when they defeated #15 St. Thomas Houston in the NCAA Tournament. It is the fourth time that ETBU has played a ranked UMHB program in the past three years, and they are now 2-2 in those games.
 
Michael Roberts had his sixth double-double of the year and second in three games with 19 points and 15 rebounds, adding four assists. Jason Justice scored 14 points with three steals, and Colin Roberts had 10 points.
 
ETBU connected on 37 percent of their shots, going 10-of-22 from the three-point line (45 percent) and 11-of-17 from the line (64 percent). ETBU hit seven three-pointers in the first half for 70 percent and was 48 percent overall shooting. UMHB shot 43 percent from the floor but made just three three-pointers (3-of-14) for 21 percent and was 10-of-18 from the foul line (55 percent). UMHB outrebounded ETBU, 43-34.
 
Shooting 70 percent from the arc, ETBU shocked UMHB in the first half, making seven three-pointers for a 37-30 lead at the half. It took four minutes to score after UMHB took a 7-0 lead. In six minutes, ETBU went on a 19-7 run for a five-point lead, 19-14, at 10:10. Michael Roberts hit a three-pointer at 13:14 for their first lead, 11-9. At 10:10, JT Curry mad a jumper for the five-point lead, 19-14. By 8:18, Nikolas Morin gave ETBU a seven-point lead, 25-18. Roberts hit his second three-pointer in the half at 6:42, pushing the lead to nine, 31-22. UMHB fought back and, by 3:56, were within four points, 32-28. Joshua R Davis followed with a jumper at 3:30 for a six-point advantage, 34-28. Neither team scored for almost three minutes, but Roberts made a free throw with 51 seconds left, making it 35-28. Colin Roberts finished off the scoring for ETBU in the half at 21 seconds for the seven-point lead, 37-30.
 
UMHB started the second half on a 16-0 run in the first four minutes, taking a nine-point lead, 46-37. ETBU's first bucket of the half came at 14:49 by Colin Roberts to cut the lead to seven, 46-39. By the 12:16 mark, UMHB had a 14-point lead, 54-40. With just over 10 minutes to play, the Cru moved their lead to 15 points, 56-41. UMHB continued to have a double-digit lead, 58-48, with 7:55 left to play, but two free throws from Sedric Curry brought the lead to nine, 49-58. Two more free throws from Roberts at 6:52 brought UMHB's lead to five, 58-53. UMHB hit two free throws at 5:13 for a seven-point lead, 60-53. Neither team hit a shot for two minutes until Morin canned a three-pointer at 3:29 that brought the UMHB lead to four, 60-56. At 2:41, Roberts banked in a basket in the paint as ETBU was within two, 60-58. It took UMHB 30 seconds to score for a five-point advantage, 63-58, on an and-1 play. After a missed ETBU three-pointer, Roberts stole the ball back at 1:33, and at 1:16, Davis slashed the lead to two on a three-pointer, 63-61. UMHB turned the ball over with 51 seconds left, which led to Justice tying the game at 63 with 42 seconds to go. Just 20 seconds later, Davis stole the ball from UMHB and handed it to Justice, who drove down the court and hit a jumper with three seconds left for the lead, 65-63. UMBH didn't have a good look at the basket as time ran out, giving ETBU the upset win.
 
ETBU faces Texas Dallas on Saturday in Richardson, Texas, at 3:00 p.m.