ABILENE, Texas – The McMurry University men's basketball team dropped the curtain on the 2016-17 campaign with a 112-98 loss to Concordia University-Texas, at Kimbrell Arena. The War hawks closed the season with a 9-16 overall mark and 4-12 in the ASC, while the Tornados upped their record to 18-7 and 12-4 in the ASC.
CUTX led McMurry wire-to-wire on their way to clinching the ASC West No. 2 spot, opening the game on a 9-0 run before a
LaRandall Scroggins' jumper got McM on the board at the 17:24 mark. In the first half alone, the teams produced enough offense for many clubs for an entire game, as the Tornados led 66-44 at the intermission.
In the second half, however, the young McMurry squad attempted to climb back into the game. McM out-scored CUTX in the stanza, 54-46, but the margin proved to be just too much to overcome. CUTX maintained a double-digit lead the entire second half.
Nate Estrada – one of four McM seniors playing their final game (along with
Matt McHugh,
Thierry Tchenko and
Gabriel Chacon) – capped his career with his 20th double-figure scoring game of the year and his seventh game with 20-plus points. Estrada was 9-of-18 from the floor, including two treys, and 4-for-4 from the free throw line. He also had four rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Freshmen
Luke Stephenson and
Zacc Carter, both coming off the bench, showed why McM head coach
Zach Pickelman's team has reason to be optimistic for the future. Stephenson had 18 points on a 7-for-9 effort from the field, going 2-of-2 from three-point range. Stephenson also pulled down a team-leading eight rebounds.
Carter had 12 points and hit 6-of-6 from the free throw stripe. He had three assists, as well.
Shakur Smith added nine points and
Krishawn Terry seven. Scroggins and
Darius Watts each booked five points. Junior
Aaron Gettys grabbed six rebounds.
The Tornados shot nearly 65 percent from the field for the game (35-54). In the first half alone, CVUTX hit 73 percent. McM's team made good on 32-of-75 field goals, a creditable 43 percent.
