ABILENE, Texas – McMurry Men's Basketball hosted George Fox in a non-conference matchup on Black Friday inside Kimbrell Arena, as the War Hawks pulled out an 84-83 victory in a game that came down to the final shot.
With less than 15 seconds remaining and the shot clock off, George Fox (2-2) had plans to hold for the final shot tied at 83-83. Junior Rob Charles had other plans, poking out a steal for McMurry (2-4) and taking it the other way to draw a shooting foul on the fast break.
Charles made the first shot to make it 84-83, but missed the second. With just five seconds to go, Kalu Stricklin grabbed the rebound for the Bruins and heaved up a three-pointed at the buzzer, but it rolled off the front iron and out of play.
Charles not only made the go-ahead free throw to end the second half, but also gave McMurry a 45-44 at halftime with a last-second lay-up. Both teams played an even second half, but the one-point edge at the break proved to make a difference.
The game had 22 lead changes and was tied 13 times.
Both teams had strong days from the field with the War Hawks shooting a season-high 51.6 percent from the field, making 33-64. The Bruins were not easy to keep up with though, shooting 16-35 behind the arc for 45.7 percent and 30-63 on field goals for 47.6 percent.
Another factor was McMurry's ability at the line, going 15-23 while staying out of foul trouble and limiting George Fox to 7-14 on free throws.
Sophomore CJ LeBlanc had a game-high 19 points, while fellow sophomore TJ Hilliard joined him with a stellar line of 16 points and 10 rebounds in just 20 minutes. Both totals are career-highs in Hilliard's first-career double-double.
Sophomore Michael Imariagbe nearly had another double-double after a career night on Tuesday, finishing with 15 points and nine rebounds on Friday. Both Imariagbe and Hilliard added two blocks. Elias Garcia also had new career highs with 12 points and 19 minutes, going 4-4 from the floor and 4-4 at the line.
McMurry has now won both of its meetings against George Fox, an NCAA Division III foe from Newberg, Oregon. The first meeting took place to open the 2007-08 season – a 77-63 victory.
McMurry wraps up non-conference play tomorrow at Abilene Christian, Tipoff across town is set for 6 p.m. Saturday's game will be an exhibition for McMurry while serving as the home opener for ACU. The game will not be live streamed, but will have live stats and will be on the radio on 1027 FM (The Bear).
