HOUSTON, Texas – Hardin-Simmons' Cowboy basketball team took down the Cal Lutheran Kingsmen 70-65 on Friday night after a career-high in scoring from sophomore Asher Fleming to advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday.
 
The Cowboys earned their place in the big dance with the ASC Championship win over UMHB last weekend and drew Cal Lu out of the SCIAC in the first round. The Cowboys advance to play the winner the Univ. of St. Thomas and Lewis & Clark in the next round Saturday.
 
Hardin-Simmons had to grind their way into the next round in a physical contest with the Kingsmen.
 
The points were hard to come by early, but the Cowboys took the lead 21-16 after a great 11-2 run to force a timeout from Cal Lu with 4:30 to go in the first half.
 
The Cowboys got a gift from Will Bartoszek, who stole a long pass and banked in a half-court 3-pointer at the buzzer to lead 32-25 at the half.
 
Fleming scored a career-high 24 points to lead the Cowboys against Cal Lu, with 17 points coming in the second half.
 
The Cowboys led by as many as 15 points in the second half and held off the rally by the Kingsmen to get back up 70-60 with under a minute left in the game.  HSU advanced 70-65 over Cal Lu in the NCAA Tournament opener.
 
Hardin-Simmons men's basketball team has now won a game in all three of its NCAA Tournament appearances (2016, 2017, 2025).
 
Along with a great night from Fleming, Bartoszek scored 14 points and Chris Bryant scored 13 points for Hardin-Simmons. Austin Brewer led the team with 12 tough rebounds and tied Bartoszek with four assists to lead the Cowboys.
The Hardin-Simmons Cowboy basketball team improves to 19-9 and advances to the second round of the NCAA Tournament hosted at UST in Houston and will face the winner of St. Thomas and Lewis & Clark at 7:35 p.m. Saturday.
 
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