ABILENE, Texas – McMurry Men's Basketball hosted back-to-back non-conference games for its home-opening weekend, but were unable to hold on to two halftime leads in a pair of losses to Southwestern and Trinity on Friday and Saturday inside Kimbrell Arena.
Friday – Southwestern 87, McMurry 85
In a game that had nine lead changes, McMurry (1-3) and Southwestern (1-2) battled to the very last second. Unfortunately, that final second resulted in a go-ahead layup by Southwestern en route to a 87-85 win. McMurry tried to set up something down court with a baseball pass, but could not secure it.
Despite the close loss, senior guard Remy Minor shined with a career-high 30 points in 30 minutes of action, shooting 11-14 from the floor and 4-5 both from downtown and at the free throw line. Playing from behind late in the second half, Minor scored 11 points in the final 5:00.
McMurry led by as many as 11 points in the first half before Southwestern steadily surged back. It started with a 8-0 run to open the second half, snapped by a Minor three pointer. From there, it became a shootout, including an alley-oop connection by Colby Cork and Michael Imariagbe to break a 60-60 tie.
Southwestern's biggest lead was five points at 83-78, but a clutch triple by TJ Hilliard brought it back within two. From there, Minor led every possession and gave his team a chance at the buzzer. His two free throws with six seconds to go tied the game, before Jacob Hester made the go-ahead basket for SU.
CJ LeBlanc joined Imariagbe and Hilliard with 12 point games, with LeBlanc going 3-9 behind the arc. Imariagbe completed the double-double with a team-high 11 rebounds.
McMurry shot 45.3 from the floor, but was overshadowed by Southwestern's 52.5 percent showing.
Saturday – Trinity 90, McMurry 74
McMurry led 40-37 at the halftime break, but were not able to hold off Trinity's high-powered offense in the second half of a 90-74 loss. Trinity – the preseason favorite in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference – improved to a 3-0 record.
The game started with back-to-back triples by LeBlanc, who accounted for nine of the first 12 points for McMurry in the first six minutes. Unfortunately, the three-point success did not translate into the second half, as McMurry went from 7-18 in the first half to 3-14 in the second.
Meanwhile, Trinity took its first lead at the 16:15 mark and would extend that to a 12-2 run to take the lead for good. Kaleb Jenkins and Tanner Brown combined for 40 points in the win.
McMurry was led by Imariagbe with 13 points and 10 rebounds for his third double-double in four games. He now has at least 12 points and eight rebounds in every game this season. LeBlanc added 12 points, followed by Minor with 10. TJ Hilliard and Rob Charles had five steals and four steals, respectively.
Up Next
The War Hawks take a break from regular season play with an exhibition on Friday, Nov. 19 at Abilene Christian University. ACU – the defending Southland Conference Champions – has not lost a home game since 2019 and will open their home schedule with McMurry.
