ABILENE, Texas – McMurry Men's Basketball was locked into a competitive matchup against the defending American Southwest Conference champions on Saturday, falling to University of the Ozarks at the buzzer in a 77-74 loss inside Kimbrell Arena.

McMurry (4-7, 2-4 ASC) trailed 75-72 with 13 seconds remaining, but found new life on a missed free throw by Ozarks (2-8, 1-5 ASC) at the other end. Colby Cork secured the rebound and McMurry used a 30 second timeout to set up something.

Out of the timeout, Ozarks elected to foul Remy Minor and send him to the line for a one-and-one. Michael Imariagbe rebounded the missed front-end, putting it back while drawing a foul to make it 75-74. He was unable to convert the and-one, sending Ozarks back to the line for two shots with five seconds on the clock.

After sinking both free throws, Ozarks clang to a 77-74 lead. McMurry quickly went down the court for one last three-point shot, but it was stripped away on the pull up and Ozarks snuck out with its first conference win of the season.

Saturday's matchup saw eight lead changes and seven tied scores.

McMurry did most of its damage inside the paint, outscoring Ozarks 44-22 in that category. Meanwhile, Ozarks hit its stride behind the arc by shooting 14-29 for 48.3 percent.

Five players scored in double figures for McMurry, led by Imariagbe with 15 points and eight rebounds. Seven of his eight rebounds were defensive, but his final rebound was the offensive board to pull his team within one.

Coming off the bench, sophomore TJ Hilliard added 13 points and seven rebounds. Cork added 12 points and four assists, while Minor chipped in 11 points and four assists. Sophomore CJ LeBlanc had 10 points, including two baskets behind the arc.

Like McMurry, Ozarks also had five players score double figures, led by Grayson Nix with 16 points.

The War Hawks have a long holiday break to prepare for their next matchup, which takes place Thursday, Jan. 6 against UT Dallas inside Kimbrell Arena.