Basketball Comes to a Close
This basketball season flew open and shut in a flash as the War Hawks played their final home game Saturday, February 8th against Louisiana College. Saturday’s game also marked senior night for seven of McMurry’s men and women. Graduating from the women’s team are forwards Skyler Reyna and Sarah Doherty. Skylar and Sarah both graduate with numerous ASC honors. From the men’s team, forwards graduating are Krishawn Terry, Mike Williams Jr, and Sherack Malokwu; graduating guards are Zacc Carter and Dedrick Berry Jr. Both games ended in disheartening losses against the Wildcats. The War Hawks have four more games in the season, all away.
The women’s team started Saturday’s game trailing the Louisiana College Wildcats. The War Hawks were behind 23-38. McMurry came back after the half ready to fight and cut the lead to 53-47 at the end of the third quarter, with the Wildcats still ahead. Barely ahead with a 3-point lead, Louisiana College held the War Hawks defensively, keeping the upper hand for a tight victory. Seniors Reyna and Doherty scored a combined 44 points. Freshman Destiny Matthews played a game to remember, scoring 19 points to close out her last home game of her freshman season. Junior Francheska Aquino made her mark on the game sinking a game-tying shot from the left side.
The men started the first half of the game strong, maintaining a lead over the Wild Cats. However, Louisiana College soon took the lead, leaving the War Hawks closely behind. McMurry shot just 26% in the second half compared to the 65% in the first half of the game.
The two losses on senior night heavily parallel the losses both teams took Thursday, February 6 against Belhaven University. The War Hawk women received a 91-63 loss, while the men went into overtime eventually falling to the Blazers 94-89. For the women, this was the seventh straight loss. McMurry took the early lead but quickly fell to Belhaven’s offense. Skyler Reyna and Destiny Matthews lead the game in points for the War Hawks with 15 and 12 respectively. In the men’s game, the War Hawks held to a lead for a significant portion of the game. In the second half of the game, the War Hawks and the Blazers battled back and forth leading into McMurry’s first overtime of the season. Unfortunately, the War Hawks couldn’t match Belhaven’s overtime offensive push.
Before facing off against Belhaven University, the War Hawks fell to Concordia University. With three disheartening losses looming over both the men and women, the War Hawks have a lot of morale to build before their next game. Both teams will be on the road in Alpine, Texas, February 13, to face off against the Sul Ross State University Lobos. Only three more games remain for both teams.