Josiah Johnson scored 18 of his 30 points in the second half at Mary Hardin-Baylor edged past Hardin-Simmons. UMHB athletics photo by Scott Burkhalter

Mary Hardin-Baylor was in midseason form from the charity stripe and Sul Ross State had a huge second half as the two teams came to Abilene, Texas, and swept two non-conference men's basketball games from American Southwest Conference rivals on Friday, Nov. 27.

UMHB got past Hardin-Simmons by an 83-80 score, while Sul Ross State rolled over McMurry 73-50.

• Nov. 27 men's scoreboard (no women's games scheduled) 

Hardin-Simmons twice led by as many as six points in the second half, but UMHB (1-0) flipped that with a 13-1 run in the second half, capped by a Kobe Richardson 3-pointer to extend the Cru's lead to 63-57 with 9:29 to play. Chase Cobb hit back-to-back 3's to give HSU (1-2) a lead with under five minutes left, but Richardson and Aedan Welch answered with back-to-back 3's of their own and UMHB climbed back out in front. Josiah Johnson hit two key foul shots with 1:09 left and Kyle Wright added two more with 11.9 seconds left to help put the game away.

The victory is the first at UMHB for head coach Clif Carroll, who came to the Cru this past offseason from Sul Ross State.

Johnson poured in 30 points to lead all scorers as he went 8-for-16 from the field and 11-for-12 from the stripe. Johnson also grabbed seven rebounds. Wright had 19 points and seven boards, Kobe Richardson scored 15 points off the bench on 5-for-6 shooting from beyond the arc and Aedan Welch had a double-double with 10 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.

It was the second consecutive final-minute loss for the Cowboys, who lost to first-year NAIA program North Texas-Dallas 82-79 on Tuesday night. Chase Cobb hit six 3-pointers and led the Cowboys with 20 points.

Sul Ross State got into the win column for the first time this season, evening its record at 1-1. The Lobos won at East Texas Baptist on Nov. 19, then had a game at LeTourneau for the following night canceled. Although ASC teams are playing each other in non-conference action because of the lack of other opponents during the pandemic, these games are not considered conference games.

Tristen Licon and Logan Dixon scored 18 points apiece and Licon added 18 rebounds and five assists in the win for Sul Ross. McMurry (0-1) shot just 5-for-27 from the floor and 1-for-13 from 3-point range in the second half. The War Hawks got a team-high 13 points from Jordan Sherman.