Box Score
ABILENE, Texas - McMurry used a 19-0 run late in the second half to pull away and defeat Howard Payne 99-88 Saturday in American Southwest Conference West Division action.
Jeremie Hart scored 33 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and
Robert Moreno's season-high12 assists paced a red-hot 59-percent shooting effort.
Howard Payne led on three different occasions in the second half, but Hart's two free throws with 9:29 left began the 19-0 stretch that wasn't snapped until HPU's Keith Perry hit two free throws with 4:11 left. From there, the Yellow Jackets couldn't close the gap to single digits.
Moreno's 12th assist was to
Chris Hergenreter who drained a 3-pointer with 2:45 remaining to give McMurry a 90-70 lead. That pass happened to be Moreno's 450th career assist and the senior already stands second all-time on McMurry's career list behind Daniel Martinez's (1996-2000) 563. Hergenreter finished with a season-high 18 points doubling his previous season-high
Hart scored 22 of his 33 in the first half and the double-double was the 6-2 guard's ninth of the season. He is eight points shy of becoming the second-straight McMurry player to score 500 points in a season;
Jonathan Walker accomplished the feat last season. He also added six of McMurry's season-high 28 assists.
Jamal Anene had 15 points and nine rebounds, Moreno added seven points and five rebounds, and
Steven Luckey finished with eight points and five assists.
McMurry shot 52 percent in the first half, but caught even more fire in the second when it hit 21 of 32 shots from the floor for a 66-percent effort. HPU kept pace with McMurry in the first period with a 52-percent effort, however, in the second half McMurry's defense wore down the Yellow Jackets and they shot 14 of 32 finishing the game with still a solid 48-percent performance.
McMurry improved 16-7 overall and 14-5 in league play while the Yellow Jackets fell to 6-17 overall and 6-13 in league play.
McMurry still stands one game behind Mary Hardin-Baylor in the ASC West Division with two games to spare. The team returns to action at home Thursday night when it plays host to Texas Lutheran at 7:30 p.m.
