ABILENE, Texas – An entertaining game from start to finish, McMurry University Men's Basketball slipped in the final minute of a 97-92 setback to Sul Ross State inside Kimbrell Arena on Saturday in American Southwest Conference action.
The lead changed 18 times, as McMurry (4-11, 4-7) tried to play spoiler against a team one spot ahead of them in the West Division standings. Ultimately, Sul Ross would catch the final break and maintain its third-place spot in the standings more comfortably, improving to 8-9 overall and 6-6 in the ASC.
Freshman forward Michael Imariagbe was perhaps the most exciting player to watch tonight, scoring 29 points and 13 rebounds in a career game. The 29 points – some of which came from electrifying dunks – are the most scored by any McMurry player in a single game this season.
Junior guard Remy Minor also hit a new season-best for the War Hawks, earning his first double-double of the campaign with 14 points and 12 assists. The 12 assists are the most by a single McMurry player since Jaden Isler in 2012. Minor fell just five assists short of the program's all-time single game record of 17 – held by three players.
The Lobos began the game on a 7-0 run and looked to be the early favorite, but McMurry went on to take its first lead with 11:44 remaining in the half, 18-17. From that point, the game became a track meet between the two, with Sully leading 44-42 at the break.
McMurry began to build a lead in the second half, going up by as many as 11 points with a 75-64 advantage with 10:13 remaining. The Lobos remained in striking distance, eventually re-tying the game at 86-86 with 2:13 to go.
In the final two minutes, the two teams traded blows on the next five possessions. With 50 seconds on the clock, Minor sank a game-tying three-pointer on an assist from Matt Pena to make it 92-92.
After that possession, Sul Ross's Julian Paredes made a go-ahead layup on the other end to go back up 94-92 with 34 seconds on the clock. The War Hawks attempted take the lead with an open three-point attempt with 25 seconds showing, but the shot rimmed out and the Lobos sank three free throws to end it.
McMurry had one other double-digit scorer in addition to Imariagbe and Minor, as sophomore Shaydon Campbell finished with 15 points on 5-10 shooting from the floor and 3-6 behind the arc. Pena also had a trio of triples to finish with nine points, shooting 3-5 from deep.
As a team, McMurry shot an impressive 38-64 from the floor (59.4) while Sul Ross finished 37-67 (55.2). The three pointers made a difference, though, as the Lobos finished 11-26 from deep (42.3) compared to McMurry's 9-23 for 39.1 percent.
As an offense, the War Hawks scored over 90 points for the first time this season.
McMurry will end the season by playing three of its final four American Southwest Conference games inside Kimbrell Arena, beginning on Thursday, Feb. 18 against UT Dallas. Tip-off from Kimbrell Arena is set for 7:30 p.m.
