Abram Choate, SID

BELTON, Texas – Despite three players in double digits, the Jackets came down off their win from last Saturday to fall to Mary Hardin-Baylor tonight, 86-65.

Although gaining the lead at one point in the game, the Jackets trailed the majority of it as the Crusaders shot a percentage of 48% from the field, compared to Howard Payne's 35%.

The Jackets fought to stay up with the Crusaders throughout the first part of the game, generally remaining within 8-10 points. However, the Crusaders used their ten point lead at halftime to build off of during the second half.

Some major differences that undoubtedly dealt with the loss can be contributed to the Crusaders scoring 19 points off of second chance shots, while Howard Payne only put back 4. Also, Mary Hardin-Baylor was able to score 13 points to the Jackets 2 off of fast breaks.

Leading the Jackets was a great performance from Bryan Blalock who had 12 points and 6 rebounds. Following closely behind him were Tom Hermann and Gary Thompson with 11 each, and Lee Scott with 10.

Contributing to the Crusaders' win was Tilmon Gaddy who had an outstanding double - double with 18 points and 12 rebounds. Also, Tim Lytle had 16 and David Ray 12.

With tonight's loss the Jackets fall to 8-8 on the season, 6-6 in conference play. The Crusaders improved with the win to 12-3 overall, 9-2 in the conference.

The men's team will resume play this upcoming Saturday in Austin against the Tornados of Concordia. They will play at approximately 3PM, following the women's game at 1PM.