ABILENE, Texas – The McMurry University men's hoops team returns to action this weekend with a pair of Heartland Conference games at Ron Holmes Court at Kimbrell Arena.
McM welcomes University of Texas of the Permian Basin Thursday night for a 7:30 p.m. tip and Lubbock Christian University Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m.
The War Hawks return home after a splitting its first Heartland road trip of the year. McM dropped an 86-60 decision at Texas A&M International, but responded nicely with a 66-57 win over St. Mary's University.
McM will count on senior
Kourtney Goff (Rochester, N.Y./Southern Illinois University) to run its offense. Goff was a warrior against St. Mary's and led all scorers with 16 points. However, the most impressive part of his stat line was he played the entire 40 minutes.
Goff also averages 13.3 points per game and has tossed out 51 assists – both team highs.
If the War Hawks (8-6, 3-2 HC) expect to upend UTPB (9-4, 3-2 HC) the player that needs to be watched at all times is senior Dwayne Soders (Fort Worth, Texas/Kilgore College). Soders averages 19 p.p.g and is shooting 50 percent (88-of-186) from the field this season has been named Heartland Conference Player of the Week twice.
However, the Falcons' offense doesn't stop there.
Thomas Feeney (Anchorage, Alaska/Wabash Valley College) averages 15 p.p.g, Anthony Dees (Los Angeles, Calif./Mt. San Jacinto CC) averages 13.5 p.p.g and Phadarius Taylor (Coastal Bend College) averages 11.2 p.p.g.
The Falcons will test the War Hawks defense. UTPB averages 84.8 p.p.g, while the War Hawks' defense holds opponents to 73.6 p.p.g.
Things don't get any easier Saturday afternoon when Lubbock Christian comes to town.
LCU averages 85.6 p.p.g, which is second in the Heartland, and a defense that holds opponents to 70.9 p.p.g, which ranks third in the conference.
The Chaparrals (6-5, 1-4 HC) are led by AJ Lackey (Dallas, Texas/Flower Mound Marcis HS), and Eli Baker (Arlington, Texas/Mountain View College).
Luckey averages 13.8 p.p.g and is shooting 48 percent (58-of-108) from the field. Baker is right behind and averages 13.2 p.p.g and is hitting 54 percent (58-of-108) of his shots.
Both games can be heard live locally on KSLI, 1280 AM with the pre-game show beginning 20 minutes ahead of the scheduled tip-off time. The games can also be heard via links on the War Hawks' web site at mcmurrysports.com.
