Clarksville, Ark.-McMurry University came back from a 33-28 halftime deficit to hand the Eagles a 69-66 loss in American Southwest Conference play on Saturday in Abilene, Texas.
McMurry (4-6, 1-5) out scored the Eagles (5-5, 2-4) 41-33 in the second half, and out shot the visitors 50 percent to 33 percent from the field in the final twenty minutes. McMurry had the lead in the first half for all but about three minutes. That was when the Eagles made a run in the final three minutes of the half. Habeeb Kareem hit a three-pointer to pull Ozarks within 26-25 with 3:03 left. Ozarks then went on a 8-2 run to close out the half. The entire second half turned into a back-and-forth battle as the two teams exchanged leads 13 times. The Eagles final lead of the contest came with 2:33 remaining when Jeremy Clark hit a jumper. McMurry would eventually tie the game at 66-66 with 1:02 left on a layup. They then hit 1-of-2 free throws with 38 seconds left to make it 67-66. Ozarks missed a three-pointer on its next possession, but got the ball back after a McMurry miss. The Eagles, however, couldn’t convert on their next possession. McMurry then hit two free throws with ten seconds left to make it a three-point game. Ozarks did get the last shot of the game, but failed to score on a three-point attempt.
Kareem was the only Ozarks player in double figures with 12 points. Andre Williams and Chris Clark each had 6 rebounds.
Ozarks will host Concordia University Texas on January 10.
Topics: Athletics