ABILENE – On a night on which the offense wasn't firing on all cylinders, McMurry got a stellar defensive effort and a 68-49 win over Howard Payne on Friday.
 
"It wasn't pretty but we did what we had to do to get a win," said McMurry head coach Drew Long. "We got a good spark from our bench in the second half and after we settled down we were able to get in a flow. We need to refocus and regroup and get prepared for two tough road games next week."
 
McMurry held HPU to 27 percent shooting and out-rebounded the Yellow Jackets 48-29.
 
The War Hawks led at the half 33-28 and used a strong second half to pull away. Down 36-35, McMurry put together a 19-3 run to take a 15-point lead heading into the final quarter. Ashton Garner had six points in that spree.
 
The lead peaked with 6:35 left in the game when Jordan Bravo connected on a three-pointer for a 63-41 lead.
 
Kylie Flippin led the offense with 18 points with Garner adding 14 off the bench. Aryana Cleveland had nine rebounds.
 
The War Hawks, now 3-1, head to Belton to play East Texas Baptist on Tuesday and Marty Hardin-Baylor on Wednesday in the UMHB Classic. Both games start at 4 p.m.