ABILENE, Texas – The McMurry Univeristy men's basketball team picked up its fourth-straight victory as it defeated Oklahoma Christian, 69-63, in overtime on Thursday night in Kimbrell Arena.
 
Takoby Jackson and Alfred Perez were the only two War Hawks to score a point in the first half of play as McMurry (9-2) found themselves trailing by one at the break. Oklahoma Christian (8-6) notched the first bucket of the game before McMurry went on a 9-0 run. Perez scored the first bucket and Jackson tallied the next seven in a row, capped by a steal and break-away drunk to put McM up, 9-2, just four minutes into the contest.
 
After the Eagles cut the lead to two at 9-7, Jackson once again brought down the house with another break-away dunk to extend the lead to 11-7 with 14:19 to play. McMurry would then expand the lead to as many as six on a layup by Perez. However, up 18-12 with 7:17 to play in the first half, the War Hawks found themselves on the short end of a 12-5 run, as Oklahoma Christian would take a 24-23 lead into the half. Jackson finished the half with 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting, while Perez went into the half with eight points on 4-of-7. The rest of the team shot 0-13 in the first frame.
 
Jackson wasted no time putting the War Hawks back in the lead in the second half, as he hit a three on the first possession to give McMurry the two-point lead, 26-24. McM would then push its lead to seven points on a jumper by Antonio Bell and a layup by Connor Robinson.
 
With the War Hawks up six, 34-28, Oklahoma Christian would go on a seven point run to take the lead for the second time in the contest on a layup by Willie Harper, to go up by one at the 10:05 mark. McMurry would quickly erase that on a three by Bell, which jumped McM back in the lead. It would go on to extend the lead to seven points on a jump shot by Kaylim Noel to take a 45-38 advantage, with just 5:23 left.
 
The Eagles would refuse to go away, however, and continued to cut into the McMurry advantage. Two free-throws by Harper tied the game at 52-52 with 27 seconds remaining in regulation. The War Hawks put the ball in Jackson's hands for the final shot, but he was unable to connect and the teams went into overtime.
 
Oklahoma Christian would once again strike first in the overtime frame to take their third lead of the game, 54-52. As with the two previous times, McM quickly responded with a back-to-back threes from Bell and Jackson to take the four-point lead, 58-54. The Eagles would cut the War Hawks' lead to just one on a jump shot by Will Reinke before a jumper by Jackson and a three by Noel extended the lead to six, 63-57, with 47 seconds to go.
 
McMurry would then use solid free-throw shooting down the stretch, and Noel would throw down a two-handed slam with just a second remaining to put the cherry on top of the victory, 69-63. Noel was the big key in the overtime frame, as he scored seven of his 11 points. Jackson and Bell each totaled five in the extra time.
 
For McMurry, Jackson led the way, notching his second-straight 20-point contest, and his first double-double of the season. He finished the day with 23 points and 10 boards. Despite being held without a point in the first half, both Bell and Noel finished in double figures. Bell scored 17, while Noel added 11. Perez also finished in double figures, scoring 10 on the night.
 
The Eagles were led by Reinke's 16 point/17 rebound performance, but also received a 13-point night from Willie Harper off the bench.
 
McMurry will look to keep its winning ways going when it hosts Dallas Baptist University on Saturday. The contest at Kimbrell Arena is scheduled for a 2 p.m. tip.