East Texas overtakes Hardin-Simmons in 2nd half to win ASC men's title
BELTON - Hardin-Simmons' hopes of making the NCAA Division III basketball tournament came up short in 72-64 loss to East Texas Baptist in the American Southwest Conference final here Saturday night.
HSU led 35-34 at halftime but could not hold on in the second half, finishing 19-9 for the season. The Cowboys came into the tournament as the No. 4 seed but battled No. 3 ETBU in the final.
It was the third win of the season for the Tigers (23-5) over HSU.
East Texas gains the national tournament for the first time since 2015, when the Tigers advanced to the Elite Eight.
HSU landed two players on the all-tournament team - senior Steven Quinn and guard Jason Justice.
ETBU's Darryl Moore, who had 25 points vs. HSU, was the MVP while teammates Aaron Gregg and Kevin Charles were all-tourney picks.
Josiah Johnson represented Mary Hardin-Baylor and Hunter Stevens was on the team from UT-Dallas.
Key for East Texas was containing HSU scorer Quinn, who lead the ASC in scoring.
Quinn hit only two of nine shots from the field and finished with 13 points - about half his average. HSU, one of the top-10 scoring teams in the nation, was held about 24 points below its average. The Cowboys hit almost half of their shots in the first half but went only 9-for-25 (36%) in the second half.
Justice had a co-team-high 16 points while Stamford's Austin Brewer contributed 10.
Calaway Dykes came off the bench to score 16 points, hitting three of HSU's six 3-pointers. The Cowboys tried only 12.
Moore sank 10 of 19 shots on his way to a game-high 25 points for the Tigers, who got 16 more from Jayden Williams. Williams dropped in 4 of 7 three-pointers.
The Cowboys won twice to play Saturday, beating Concordia-Texas in a quarterfinal game in Abilene and then upsetting the tourney's top see and host, Mary Hardin-Baylor on Friday.
Quinn entered the tournament needing to make 10 free shots to become HSU's all-time leader. In three games, he went 31-for-34 from the line (91%). He also finished among the best ever in several other categories.
AMERICAN SOUTHWEST CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT FINAL
No. 3 East Texas Baptist 72, No. 4 Hardin-Simmons 64
Hardin-Simmons… 35 … 29-- 64
East Texas Baptist … 34 … 38 – 72
HARDIN-SIMMONS (19-9) – Austin Brewer 5 0-2 10, Steven Quinn 2 9-10 13, Will Bartoszek 2 2-2 6, Aidan Walsh 0 0-0 0, Jason Justice 7 0-0 16,, Calaway Dykes 5 3-5 16,, Jamison Bosch 1 0-0 3,, Jared Bomer 0 0-1 0. Totals 22 14-20 64
MARY HARDIN-BAYLOR (23-5) - Darryl Moore 10 5-7 25, Ryan Elzy 5 0-0 10, Aaron Gregg 2 2-5 6, Kevin Charles 2 2-2 6, Kurt Labeaud 2 0-1 4, Jayden Williams 5 2-2 16, Jaden Conner 2 090 5, Michael Roberts 0 0-0 0, Kyler Stutts 0 0-0 0. Totals 28 11-17 72
3-Point Goals – HSU 5 (Dykes 3, Justice 2, Bosch). ETBU 5 (Williams 4, Conner). Total Fouls – HSU 16, UMHB 20. Fouled Out –None.. Technical Fouls – None
UTD women make national tourney field
The University of Texas-Dallas, which upset No. 1-seed Hardin-Simmons at the buzzer Friday, won their fifth ASC title with a 63-57 win over East Texas Baptist on Saturday at HSU's Mabee Complex.
The win sends thefourth-seeded Comets and first-year coach Joe Shotland into the NCAA Division III tourney with an automatic bid.
HSU, which had its 20-game winning streak snapped, is hoping for an at-large berth when the 64-team field in announced Monday afternoon.
The Cowgirls were ranked No. 8 nationally and No. 2 behind Trinity in the region. Trinity was only team to beat HSU this season until the Comets won 73-71 Friday, overcoming a 10-point second-half deficit.
East Texas Baptist scored the first seven points of the title game but the Comets came back to lead 30-23 at halftime. The Tigers got to within three points twice in the final five minutes.
Jordan Maxwell, who hit the game-winner vs. HSU, scored 17 points and was named the tournament's MVP.
Trystan Clark, who came up with the defensive play Friday that gave UTD a final shot against Hardin-Simmons, had 12 points. She was on the all-tourney team along with teammate Cierra Trigg.
UTD won the tournament for the third time in five years and also had titles in 2013 and 2015.
The Comets will take a 19-9 record into the tournament.
East Texas' Mollie Dittmar and Kenidi White were all-tourney picks, along with HSU's Parris Palmer and Arieona Rosborough for Mary Hardin-Baylor.
The Tigers, who swept three games vs. ETBU, beat Mary Hardin-Baylor 68-65 in overtime Friday to advance to the title game.
This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: East Texas overtakes Hardin-Simmons in 2nd half to win ASC men's title
