SHREVEPORT, La. – McMurry University men's basketball team withstood a late charge on the road versus Centenary College, holding on to a 99-89 win at the Gold Dome. The win evened the War Hawks' record at 2-2, while the Gents fell to 2-3 on the year, in the non-conference bout.
 
McMurry led by as much as 18 points midway through the second half when Luke Stephenson hit the second of two free throw attempts to make it 72-54 in favor of the War Hawks.  But the scrappy Gents whittled away at the advantage and – with just 2:11 remaining to be played – got it to within three points (90-87) on a three-point play by James Sapp.
 
But, unlike last Monday's loss to University of the Southwest after leading by 22 points, this time it was McMurry that had the strong sprint to the finish line. McM outscored Centenary 9-2 in the final two minutes to salt away the win.
 
The stretch run by the War Hawks began with a pair of free throws by Darius Watts and was followed by a three-point play by Stephenson to make it 95-87. A Kaan Yilmaz jumper with 33 tics left on the clock, followed by two more free throws from Zacc Carter, gave McM its final total. Centenary's concession basket as time expired made it the 99-89 final.
 
Watts had the best outing of his young career as a War Hawk, finishing with a game-high 24 points. Watts was 7-of-12 from the floor overall and drained 5-of-8 from three-point range.  He also had four rebounds and two assists off of head coach Zach Pickleman's bench.
 
In all, six McMurry players finished the game in double-digit scoring.  Joining Watts was Stephenson with 16 points (also off the bench), LaRandall Scroggins with 13, Yilmaz and Carter with 11 and Nate Estrada with 10. Carter made a living at the charity stripe, connecting on 7-of-10 attempts.
 
Mike Williams Jr. had a pair of blocked shots for McM.  Aaron Gettys did a little bit of everything, as well, with six rebounds, seven rebounds and four assists.