LONGVIEW, Texas – The Cardiac War Hawks nearly did it again.
Despite trailing by 20 points in the second half, McMurry Men's Basketball rose from its embers, forced overtime and had the LeTourneau YellowJackets on their heels until the final horn. In heartbreaking fashion, LeTourneau survived at home for an 87-86 win Thursday in Longview, Texas.
Tied 84-84 with the shot clock off, McMurry's senior guard Remy Minor went coast-to-coast and sank a fadeaway jumper with 2.4 seconds to go. This put McMurry up 86-84 and had the appearance of a comeback for the ages.
Instead, with just enough time for one more look, LETU's Jordan Pride drew a shooting foul behind the three-point line as time expired. It was deemed the foul was just prior to the buzzer and Pride sank all three free throws to put his team ahead 87-86. McMurry did not have enough time to get a good look after, falling at the buzzer.
The YellowJackets jumped out to a large lead in the first half, ending on a 9-0 run to go up 48-29 at the break. Later, LeTourneau led 56-36 with 14:56 remaining – a deficit that seemed too much to overcome, but McMurry went on to outscore LETU 47-28 in the second period.
Junior guard Rob Charles was one of the key reasons McMurry was able to come back and force overtime, scoring a career-high 22 points on 7-8 shooting from the floor and 8-10 shooting at the free throw line.
Charles was one of three players off the bench to score in double-figures, joining sophomores Michael Imariagbe and Colby Cork with 15 points and 10 points, respectively.
One of Imariagbe's baskets was a clutch one, tying the game at 76-76 with 10 seconds to go in the second half. LETU had its chance to end it in regulation, as Pride drew a foul right before the buzzer and missed both freebies. Charles, adding to his memorable game, pulled down the defensive rebound to force OT. Ultimately, Pride made up for those misses with his three makes at the end.
Many of McMurry's points down the stretch came from CJ LeBlanc, as the sophomore made back to back driving layups to make it 72-69 with 3:34 remaining. One minute later, LeBlanc drained a three-pointer to make it 75-72. Cork then had a basket in the paint to make it 76-74 with 42 ticks on the clock.
LeBlanc ended with 17 points. Forward Elias Garcia led McMurry with 11 rebounds. He and Minor had seven points each.
With the win, LeTourneau retains its second place spot in the American Southwest Conference standings at 17-4 overall and 12-4 in the conference. Meanwhile, McMurry falls to 7-13 overall and 5-10 in the conference, but remains inside the league's top eight with three games remaining.
McMurry will look to get the bad taste out of its mouth on Saturday, Feb. 12 at UT Dallas at 3 p.m.
