Box Score

ABILENE, Texas – Derick Sumpter hit four free throws after a personal foul followed by a technical from Mary Hardin-Baylor's Kevin Neal with 33 seconds left to help McMurry seal a 65-62 victory over the Crusaders to move into sole possession of first place in the American Southwest Conference West Division Saturday afternoon at Kimbrell Arena.

McMurry led 61-59 when Sumpter put up a shot with two seconds on the shot clock, was fouled by Neal who proceeded to mouth towards the official as he headed off the floor for collecting his disqualifying foul. After the technical was whistled, Sumpter proceeded to knock down the technical foul shots and the two shots for the foul on the shot.

Sumpter's free shots extended the lead to six points, but with 14 seconds left, UMHB's Sterling Phillips nailed a 3-pointer to cut the lead to three at 65-62. McMurry's Steven Jones had the ensuing inbounds pass stolen, but in the final possession, the Crusaders missed two 3-point attempts to force overtime with James Allen's final attempt coming at the buzzer.

Mary Hardin-Baylor dropped to 13-6 in league play while McMurry moved to 14-5, and Concordia-Texas upset Hardin-Simmons to drop the Cowboys to a second-place tie with UMHB at 13-6.

Steven Jones led McMurry with 16 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Sumpter had 15 points, was just 4 for 13 from the floor but got it done at the free-throw line hitting 6 for 6 free-throw shots. Steven Johunkin hit three big 3-pointers throughout the game and finished with 11 points. Cameron Quinton came off the bench to score eight points and seven rebounds.

As a team McMurry shot 52 percent in the first half to take a 36-23 lead into the locker room at halftime. However, in the second half the Crusader defense stiffened and allowed just a 29-percent effort from the home team in the second half. But, McMurry made 12 of 14 attempts from the free-throw line in the closing half and finished game at 18 of 22 from the charity stripe.

IN the losing effort, Phillips had 15 points and six rebounds while Brian Todd, Allen and Marlon Miller all had eight points. UMHB shot 37 percent from the floor in the loss and out-rebounded McMurry 45-32. However, McMurry limited itself to 10 turnovers and won the paint battle 20-14.

McMurry controls its own destiny with two games remaining on the road. If McMurry wins its road game with Howard Payne in Brownwood Thursday and Sul Ross in Alpine Saturday, the team would have an outright ASC West title. McMurry last won the west division in 2009 when it shared the crown with UMHB.

McMurry and the YellowJackets square off at Brownwood Coliseum Thursday at 7:30 p.m.