BELTON, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men’s basketball team broke open a close game late in the first half and the Crusaders rolled to an 86-72 win over Ripon College in the Cru Crothall Holiday Classic Saturday afternoon in Belton. The Cru improves to 6-3 on the season with the victory. The loss drops the Red Hawks to 4-4 on the year.

Ripon led 25-24 with 8:22 remaining in the first half before the Crusaders exploded for a 23-3 run to take a 47-28 lead with 2:13 left in the half. The Cru settled for a 51-33 lead at the break. UMHB pushed the lead to as many as 22 points in the second half and Ripon only got as close as 14 points on the game’s last shot. UMHB shot 57 per cent from the field in the win and held the Red Hawks to 43 per cent shooting. UMHB was 13-25 from beyond the arc and the Cru out rebounded Ripon 37-32 in the game.

Kevin Guyden led UMHB with a career-high 29 points and he was 5-9 from three-point range. Neiman Ford added 12 points for the Cru and three different players added eight points apiece for UMHB. Bo Johnson led the Red Hawks with 20 points and he hit 4-9 from beyond the arc. Brian Schmitting and David McMullen added 12 points each and McMullen also had seven assists for Ripon.

UMHB went 2-0 during the tournament this weekend. Ripon and Virginia Wesleyan both went 1-1 over the weekend and Hardin-Simmons University finished 0-2. The Red Hawks will now return home to resume conference play, as they'll host Illinois College on Thursday, January 4th at Storzer Center. Tipoff is set for 7:00 and will be preceded by the women's contest against IC.