The McLennan Highlanders fell 62-50 to the Murray State Aggies in this afternoon's game in Edmond, Oklahoma.
The first half was a series of runs between the two squads. Murray State opened on a 5-0 run to take the early lead. McLennan trailed 7-3 with 18:10 to play in the first half. An Aaron Chapman bucket ignited a 13-0 Highlander run. McLennan went up 16-7 with a few ticks over 14 minutes on the clock. The Highlanders continued to push and took its largest lead of the game at 26-14 on a Rontavious Blackshear 3-pointer with 8:29 to go before the half. Murray State took over from that point with a 16-0 run to lead 30-26 with 30 seconds to play. Amare Banks drained a 3-pointer just before the buzz for the Highlanders to trim the Aggies' lead to one at the break, 30-29.
McLennan opened the second on a 5-0 run to go ahead 34-30. Back-to-back 3-pointer put Murray State back on top. The Aggies pushed the lead to seven before McLennan's Aaron Chapman drained a 3-pointer to start a 7-0 run to tie the game at 50 with five minutes to play. Murray State ended the game on a 12-0 run to secure the win.
Ari Gooch led McLennan with 12 points.
McLennan: Rontavious Blackshear 3 0-0 8; Joseph Mayberry 2 0-0 4; Kardae Turner 0 0-0 0; Amare Banks 2 3-5 9; Ari Gooch 5 0-1 12; Aaron Chapman 4 0-0 9; Keegan Rowell 0 0-0 0; Evan Chatman 2 0-0 7; Frederick Rogers, III 1 0-0 2; Joe Burgess 0 0-0 0; Maximilian Blank 0 0-1 0; Totals:19 5-11 50.
Murray State: RJ Chatman 3 4-5 12; Devon MacCollister 2 0-0 5; Elijah Tshibangu 5 5-8 18; Abeeng Agot 1 0-0 3; Rustin Coffey 2 0-0 5; Luke Linder 1 0-0 3; Brandon Ivery 4 0-0 8; Ignas Juskevicius 0 0-0 0; Bol Agu 1 2-2 4; Chanon Frye 0 0-0 0; Kobe Harrison 2 0-0 4; Totals: 2 11-15 62.
Halftime score: Murray State 30, McLennan 29; 3-pointers: McLennan 8 (Blackshear 2, Banks 2, Gooch 2, Chapman 1, Chatman 1), Murray State 8 (Tshibangu 3, Chatman 2, MacCollister 1, Agot 1, Linder 1); Total fouls: McLennan 18, Murray State 15; Fouled out: McLennan (Gooch); Record: McLennan 2-1.
