Sunday, February 9, 1997

Indians hang on to defeat Cowboys, 71-69

By TED DUNNAM / Assistant Sports Editor

McMurry University head basketball coach Ron Holmes, whose team had been living on borrowed time in its previous two games, was certain the clock would expire on the Indians Saturday.

When Hardin-Simmons' Ryan Lindsey launched an uncontested 3-pointer as the final seconds ticked off in the teams' American Southwest Conference game, Holmes' eyes read only one verdict.

"I thought it was going in," Holmes said. "When you give him that good of a look, he's usually going to make it. I feel bad for a kid like Ryan Lindsey to miss that shot, but I'm also proud of the way our team came back."

Lindsey's shot was on target with three seconds left, but bounced hard off the back-iron into McMurry's waiting hands, allowing the Indians to escape with a 71-69 victory at Kimbrell Arena.

The victory improved McMurry to 10-10 overall, but more importantly boosted the Indians' record to 5-2 in conference games. The loss for HSU all but eliminated the Cowboys from the title chase as head coach Dennis Harp's team fell to 3-4 in the ASC.

"We wanted to get the ball into Bernard Combs' hands for the last shot," Harp said. "We didn't get the shot we wanted and they came away with the win. McMurry's made a living winning these close games. Ron and his guys do a good job in crunch time."

The Cowboys had a seven-point lead, 59-52, when Justin Moore canned a follow shot with 10:08 left in the game. However, McMurry went on an 8-0 run to get itself back in the game.

A layup by Chris Brown, two free throws by Daniel Martinez, a short basket inside by Danny Wisniewski and Sam Thomas' 10-foot jumper regained the lead for the Indians at 60-59 with 7:37 showing.

HSU stemmed the tide with a Combs' layup and a 15-foot jumper by Justin Moore that put the Cowboys' up 63-60.

The Cowboys still led 65-64 and had possession of the ball when McMurry's Brown came up with a steal and a layup for a 66-65 Indian lead with 2:17 showing.

HSU was unable to score its next trip up the floor and Wisniewski scored on a dish from Brown for a 68-65 score with 1:29 left. The Cowboys then countered when Moore drilled a 12-foot jumper at the 1:10 mark to pull HSU within 68-67.

The Cowboys almost forced the Indians into a shot-clock violation on their next possession, but Wisniewski caught Brown's air-ball and put it in with 36 seconds left to make it 70-67.

Moore quickly responded for HSU with a hoop to pull the Cowboys within 70-69 with 27 seconds left. While trying to run the remaining time off the clock, McMurry's JohnT Walker was fouled with 14 seconds left.

He made the first of two free throws for a 71-69 score and HSU rebounded the second.

The Cowboys then pushed the ball up the court, and Lindsey freed himself for the jumper about five feet past the top of the key, only to see it misfire.

"This is three conference wins in a row for us by one or two points, and on each one the other team has had the last shot," Holmes said. "This was a must win for us. We've got to go 5-1 or 6-0 in the second half or we don't have a chance to go to Idaho.

"Hardin-Simmons did a good job on us inside. They played that zone defense, and we don't have anybody that can shoot the ball outside. They dictated the tempo the whole game."

McMurry made only 29 of 71 attempts from the field, including a miserable 2 of 20 from 3-point range. HSU, meanwhile, was a sizzling 28 of 52. Moore and Combs, who each had 21 points, were a combined 18 of 27 from the field.

However, McMurry made up for its poor shooting by forcing 23 turnovers and committing just 11.

"I think you can say we're out of the race now," Harp said. "We had our chances and just didn't get it done. We had 13 turnovers in the first half and dug ourselves a hole early. We still led at halftime, but we made some turnovers near the end of the game that cost us."

HARDIN-SIMMONS (69) - Daron Scott 0-3 2-4 2, Bernard Combs 8-11 2-2 21, DAvid McKeel 2-7 0-0 5, Ryan Lindsey 0-2 0-0 0, Clay Cody 0-1 0-0 0, Justin Moore 10-16 1-2 21, Chris Wilkins 7-11 1-1 15, Jason Phillips 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 28-52 9-14 69.

MCMURRY (71) - Chris Brown 6-13 0-1 12, Javier Gonzales 2-3 0-0 5, Daniel Martinez 1-6 2-2 4, JoJo Villarreal 2-10 0-0 4, JohnT Walker 1-7 2-4 4, Sam Thomas 1-2 0-0 2, Bryan Hamm 1-2 0-0 2, Abran Aragon 5-10 2-2 12, Danny Wisniewski 8-14 5-7 21, Jay Savannah 0-1 0-0 0, Brian Tudman 2-3 0-0 4. Totals 29-71 11-16 71.

Halftime - HSU 39, McMurry 36. 3-point goals - HSU 4-10 (Scott 0-1, Combs 3-4, McKeel 1-3, LIndsey 0-1, Moore 0-1); McMurry 2-20 (Brown 0-5, Gonzalez 1-2, Martinez 0-2, Villarreal 0-6, Walker 1-3, Hamm 0-1, Savannah 0-1). Total fouls - HSU 17, McMurry 18. Fouled out - None. Technical fouls - McMurry bench, Aragon. Rebounds - HSU 33 (Moore 11), McMurry 36 (Wisniewski 8). Assists - HSU 8 (McKeel 3), McMurry 13 (Brown 8). Steals - HSU 7, McMurry 14. Turnovers - HSU 23, McMurry 11. Records - HSU 10-9, 3-4; McMurry 10-10, 5-2.