Men's Basketball 1/17/2013 11:38:00 PM

Dustdevils Power Past McMurry

Box Score LAREDO, Texas (January 17) – A timely second half decision by TAMIU men’s basketball coach Bryan Weakley proved to be the difference Thursday night as the Dustdevils topped McMurry University, a team who came into Thursday night’s game with second best overall record in the league, 78-70 at the TAMIU KCB.

The Dustdevils held the War Hawks scoreless in six of the game’s final seven minutes and outscored McMurry 40-24 in the second half to snap McMurry’s five-game winning streak, which dated back to December 8, 2012.

After the War Hawks shot 65.4 percent from the floor in the first half, a switch to a zone defense in the second allowed the TAMIU defense to hold McMurry to just 27.6 percent shooting from the field and 0 percent (0-3) from three-point range.

“We’ve been working on zones all year and we have a lot of confidence in it, but what I was most pleased with was the way the guys responded to our situation. Our team has been in this situation many times this year, where we lead and get content or we’re down and we get discouraged. We talked a lot about it during time outs and they responded like they never have this year. We just played like we wanted it more than them in the second half.”

Johnel Gray had a big game for the Dustdevils scoring a season-high 23 points knocking down 6-10 shots from the field including 4-6 three’s and 7-8 free throws. Damal Donaldson also finished with a season-high adding 15 points, while Matthew Culliver kicked in 14 points and eight boards. TAMIU also limited their turnovers to 11, tied for their lowest mark of the season.

The Dustdevils shot 51 percent from the field and a blazing 47.4 percent from three-point range. McMurry finished at 45.5 percent from the field, but struggled from outside connecting on just 2-8 three’s. The War Hawks were led by senior guard Takoby Jackson, who finished with a game-high 24 points on 8-16 shooting. Alfred Perez added 14, while Antonio Bell finished with 13.

The Dustdevils jumped out to an early four point lead behind three’s from Gray, Culliver, and Daniel Rosas. TAMIU continued to push the pace and took their biggest lead of the half 18-9 on another Rosas tre. The War Hawks slowly chipped away at the lead for the remainder of the half and eventually took the lead 35-33 on a three-point play by DJ Stennis. McMurry closed the half on an 11-3 run, taking a 46-38 lead into the half.

Alfred Perez gave the War Hawks their biggest lead of the game early in the second half, knocking down a jumper in the paint to put the War Hawks up 54-44. With 12:55 left to play Culliver knocked down a three kick starting an 11-0 TAMIU run to reclaim the lead for the Dustdevils 60-58. McMurry battled their way back to a three-point lead, but Gray hit three straight free throws to tie the game at 67 and TAMIU never looked back. Including Gray’s free throws, the Dustdevils exploded with a 14-0 run to put the game out of reach. The War Hawks scored the game’s final two buckets, but it was too little too late as TAMIU walked away with the 78-70 win.

The Dustdevils improve to 8-6 on the season with the win, while their overall record remains steady at 2-3. TAMIU returns to the court Saturday, January 19 to host St. Edward’s University at the TAMIU KCB at 4 p.m.

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