ABILENE, Texas – Zaid scored 11 of his career-high 17 points in the second half and the Concordia Texas men's basketball team held off McMurry's late rally for their fifth win in a row on Saturday, defeating the War Hawks 80-71 inside Kimbrell Arena.
It is the Tornados' longest win streak since last season when the program won five straight from Jan. 1-Jan. 12, 2019. It is the most consecutive wins in conference play since the team won seven straight during the 2016-17 season.
Concordia Texas struggled offensively from the floor, shooting just under 40 percent from the field, but made up for on the defensive end, forcing 31 War Hawks turnovers, leading to 29 points.
Gonzalo Munoz, meanwhile, continued to make his presence known on the glass, grabbing double-digit rebounds for the fourth game in a row and set a career-high with 15 boards, including six coming on the offensive end.
In the first half, the Tornados' bench powered the offense, scoring 24 of the team's 39 first half points.
Alexander Estrada was a key cog for CTX, going 3-for-3 from behind the arc and had nine points in the first half as the Tornados and War Hawks were knotted up at 24-all with 4:20 remaining.
Concordia Texas closed out the half on a 15-6 run, led by Harris, who had six points during the spurt, and headed to the locker room leading McMurry 39-30.
In the second half, the War Hawks began to chip away at CTX's lead, cutting it to 46-42 after a Krishawn Terry dunk with 15:36 to go. The Tornados responded though, reeling off 10 straight points and took their largest lead of the game after a Munoz layup made it 56-42.
McMurry staged one more comeback late in the second half, whittling CTX's lead down to five after a Jordan Sherman jumper with under a minute to go.
Luis Gonzalez put the game away for good though, knocking down a pair of free throws and added a layup to secure an 80-71 win. He finished the day with 15 points, nine of them coming in the second half.
Concordia Texas will return home for its final home stand of the season, where they will host Howard Payne and Sul Ross State, respectively. The Tornados will go for their sixth straight win on Thursday when they face the Yellow Jackets at 7:30 p.m. inside Concordia Fieldhouse.
