AUSTIN, Texas – McMurry University Men's Basketball picked up its second road win of the season in dramatic fashion, knocking off Concordia Texas at the buzzer with an 80-77 victory in Austin on Saturday.
In a tight American Southwest Conference matchup, neither team led by more than two possessions.
Leading by three at the final possession, the War Hawks (2-9, 2-4) made two defensive stops at the other end to steal the victory. Concordia Texas (1-4, 0-4) attempted a game-tying three with 15 seconds to go, but freshman Michael Imariagbe swatted it away. After a missed dunk at the other end, CTX had one final shot, but McMurry's Remy Minor snagged the rebound off the miss and iced the game.
McMurry led for nearly 14 minutes in the first half, but Concordia stole the lead at the first half buzzer with a quick layup to go up 36-35. This set up a crazy second half that saw 19 lead changes, with the last change happening in McMurry's favor with 52 seconds to go.
As a team, McMurry had its best shooting performance of the season at 51.7 percent, finishing 31-60 on field goals. The War Hawks also went 6-14 from downtown (42.9) and 12-20 from the line (60.0). CTX ended 27-62 (43.5) and made just 6-23 from behind the arc (26.1).
Scoring-wise, it was a full team effort for McMurry with four double-digit scorers. Junior DJ Worrell led the charge with 17 points, shooting 7-12 from the floor. Freshman Michael Imariagbe added 14 points, nine rebounds and three blocks – including the one that negated the game-tying three.
Junior Jordan Sherman and sophomore Rob Charles chipped in 12 points on the night, with Charles netting a new career high in his first double-digit scoring game.
Junior guard Remy Minor facilitated the balanced attack with nine points and seven assists, while freshman TJ Hilliard matched his career high with eight points.
McMurry will look to ride the momentum into next week with two key road matchups. First up is Louisiana College on Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. in Pineville, La., followed by Belhaven on Friday night at 8:30 p.m. in Jackson, Miss.
