PINEVILLE – The Wildcats came close, painfully close, to defeating the deep McMurry men's basketball team, but too many second-chance points doomed Louisiana College to a 74-70 loss in its home and American Southwest Conference opener.
The Wildcats never trailed by more than seven points in the game, and that was in the first half, and managed to hold the lead 11 times in the contest, seven times in the second half.
However, McMurry managed to pull down 39 rebounds (17 on the offensive end) while LC managed just 23 boards (16 defensive) en route to the loss.
With the loss the Wildcats fall to 1- overall and 0-1 in ASC play.
Jarrod Jackson and Chukuma Ekeh were tops for LC in scoring with 16 points apiece. The other double-digit scorers for the Wildcats were Jeremy Hollier with 13 and Jelani Mitchell with 11 points and three assists.
Six McMurry players scored in double figures on the night, led by Jeremie Hart with 17.
Guard Robert Moreno added 12 points and five steals, Rickey Burney 12 points, Jamal Anene 10 points and nine rebounds and Steven Luckey 10 points for McMurry.