ABILENE, TEXAS – A recent hot run of play continued for McMurry University Thursday, Dec. 15.

Looking to move up the American Southwest Conference standings, head coach Zach Pickelman's War Hawks took advantage of 23 University of the Ozarks turnovers, converting them into 23 points, towards an 86-77 win inside the friendly confines of Kimbrell Arena. That effort managed to short-circuit the visiting Eagles' 46-32 edge on the glass as part of a 44-34 scoring cushion in the paint.

The Maroon, Black, and White jumped to a 10-2 lead early, but University of the Ozarks answered quickly, turning the first 20 minutes into a back-and-forth affair. Leading 41-33 at the break due to a 10-0 run during the final three minutes, the home team's positive margin reached as much as 15 in the second half, as a small but vocal crowd responded in the affirmative.

The Eagles managed one more comeback, catching their hosts at 59-59. From that point on, though, McMurry, as Pickelman had indicated in his weekly press conference, protected its home court running off eight successive points and not looking back.

Sophomore guard C.J. Blanc's scintillating 2022-23 showed no signs of letting up. He registered his fourth 20-points-or-more outing in his last seven appearances with 25 due to a blistering five-of-14 pace from outside the arc. He also compiled a co-team-leading four assists and topped the steals chart (four). Senior guard Remy Minor (Chicago, Ill.) (13 points, four assists), freshman guard Matt Pena (El Paso, Texas) (11 points, three three-pointers), and freshman guard/forward Elijah Lomas (San Antonio, Texas) (13 points, seven rebounds, one blocked shot) joined LeBlanc to pave the way to victory.

McMurry, winners of three of their last four, look to wrap up the pre-Christmas break home portion of their 2022-23 slate on a high note Saturday, Dec. 17. UT-Dallas comes to town for a 3 p.m. contest.