AUSTIN, Texas – McMurry used a strong early second-half surge to knock off the Concordia University Texas men's basketball team, 101-93, in the 2014-15 season opener for both teams on Saturday at Concordia Fieldhouse.
The War Hawks (1-0) received a game-high 44 points from Connor Robinson to win the non-conference tilt. Robinson netted 27 points in the opening frame to help McMurry to a 48-42 advantage at halftime. He also grabbed a game-best 15 rebounds to complete a double-double.
The War Hawks held a 39-31 lead in the first half, but Concordia Texas (0-1) reeled off a 10-1 run that was capped by
Josh Sanchez's layup with 2:09 left in the period. However, it was the Tornados' final lead of the contest.
McMurry regained the advantage less than a minute later on Jordan Holmes' bucket. It started a 20-5 run that carried into the final session and allowed the War Hawks to take a 60-46 lead.
The visitors extended their advantage to 94-74 on a pair of Robinson free throws with 6:07 remaining.
Over the next five minutes, Concordia chipped away at McMurry's lead, trimming it to 98-88 after Sanchez buried a jumper.
The War Hawks then picked up a free throw from Diondre Frank to push the lead to 11 with 19 seconds left.
After
Donovan Ford knocked down a jumper for CTX, Frank went back to the charity stripe and tallied a pair to keep McMurry's lead at 11.
Ford then hit a shot from just inside the half-court line as time expired to cut the advantage to single digits.
Ford, in his Tornados debut, paced the squad with 25 points. Sanchez tallied 22 and picked up five steals, while
Andre Potts also found his way into double figures with 18 points.
Concordia struggled from the field, shooting only 33.3 percent (27-of-81). The Tornados hit only 18.4 percent (7-of-38) of shots from beyond the arc.
Meanwhile, the War Hawks shot 58.8 percent (30-of-51), including 68 percent (17-for-25) in the second half.
Concordia will return to action on Tuesday, Nov. 18, at former American Southwest Conference foe Texas Lutheran. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in Seguin.
POSTGAME NOTES•
Josh Sanchez eclipsed 1,000 points in his career after knocking down a 3-pointer with 3:30 left in the second half. Sanchez has amassed 1,005 points in two years at Concordia and one at McMurry. The Houston native has registered 942 points in a Tornados uniform. He logged 63 points in the 2009-10 season while playing at McMurry.
• The Tornados forced 32 turnovers, including 19 in the second half.
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Terry Corprew scored seven points in his first game back with CTX since March 9, 2013. The Paris native missed the entire 2013-14 campaign while recovering from an injury. Corprew played 17 minutes off the bench and added two rebounds and one assist.
• CTX shot 78 percent (32-of-41) from the free-throw line.
• The Tornados scored 62 of their 93 points off the bench.
