Box Score
Belton, TX— The McMurry University men's basketball team made its final appearance in the American Southwest Conference Tournament one to remember as the War Hawks erased a double-digit second half deficit and then held on in overtime for an 86-81 win over Hardin-Simmons University Sunday in Belton. The win gives McMurry its second straight ASC title and fourth overall. The War Hawks also improve to 20-8 on the year with the victory. The Cowboys, playing in the ASC title game for the first time since 2007, fall to 21-7 on the year with the loss.
Hardin-Simmons held its largest lead of the game at 49-36 with 17:39 left in regulation before the War Hawks started their comeback. McMurry used a 30-16 run to take its first of the second half at 66-65 on a Steven Jones free-throw. The War Hawks built a 73-70 lead on a Jones lay-in with 49 seconds to go, but Matt Addison buried three clutch free throws for Hardin-Simmons to tie the game at 73 with 34 seconds left. McMurry turned the ball over without getting off a shot on the final possession of regulation to send the game to overtime at 73-73.The War Hawks scored the first three points of the extra session and led 78-75 with 1:35 to go. Addison trained a three to tie the game at 78, but McMurry used jumpers from Bryant Taylor and Jaden Isler to take an 84-78 lead with 10 seconds to go. Addison hit another three to close the gap to 84-81, but that's as close as the Cowboys would get. HSU led 39-32 at halftime after holding a double-digit lead in the early going of that half, too.
Jones led McMurry with 22 points and 13 rebounds. Isler had 14 points and seven assists, Taylor and Bryce Hill scored 13 points apiece and Alfred Perez chipped in 12 off the bench. The War Hawks shot 57 percent in the second half and finished at 51 percent for the game. McMurry also hit 26-33 from the free-throw line, including 7-8 in overtime.
Addison led all scorers with an ASC Championship Game record 41 points. He also set an ASC Tournament record with 93 points over three games and topped the ASC single-season scoring record of 720 points set by UMHB's
Robert Moore in the process. Derrick Jefferson added 13 points and 12 rebounds for the Cowboys. HSU shot just 32 percent in the second half and 36 percent for the game.
Isler was named ASC Tournament MVP and was joined on the All-Tournament Team by teammates Jones and Taylor. Addison and Jefferson represented Hardin-Simmons on the All-Tournament Team along with UMHB's
Marlon Miller and Chris Barnes of U.T.-Dallas.
McMurry also claims the ASC's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III National Championships and will find out its first-round opponent and game location when the field is announced tomorrow morning. The War Hawks are playing their final season in Division III before transitioning to NCAA Division II next year. The Cowboys will have to hope for an at-large bid to the NCAA postseason field when the bracket is announced on Monday.
