McMurray scores career-high 25 to lead Eagles past Wingate, 80-74
Feb. 28, 2009
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. -- Senior guard Jesse McMurray (Weber City, Va.) made his final game at Holt Fieldhouse a memorable one, scoring a career-high 25 points to lift Carson-Newman past Wingate 80-74 Saturday in South Atlantic Conference action on senior night.
McMurray was 9-of-17 from the floor, including 7-of-15 from 3-point range. With the seven threes, McMurray moved past Catawba's Helgi Magnusson (2003-06) for sole possession of third place on the SAC career 3-point field goals made list with 230.
With the win, the Eagles improve to 7-20 on the season and 4-12 in the SAC. Wingate falls to 12-15 overall and 8-8 in the conference.
The victory snapped a 10-game C-N losing streak.
Senior guard Andrew Johnson (Cairo, Ga.) added 11 points and four assists for the Eagles.
Rosco Turner (Lexington, N.C.) led Wingate with 25 points, while David Johnson (Durham, N.C.) finished with 12 points in the loss.
The Eagles shot 43.3 percent (29-of-67) from the floor, including 35.3 percent (12-of-34) from behind the arc. The Bulldogs shot 43.8 percent (28-of-64) for the game but made just 1-of-15 attempts from 3-point range.
Wingate led by as much as six points in the first half at 13-7, but the Eagles battled back and took an 18-16 lead on an Adam Plavich (Dalton, Ga.) 3-pointer at the 11:34 mark.
Tray Okoth (Richmond, Va.) later sank a jumper with 5:29 on the clock to give C-N its biggest lead of the half at 37-28.
A Justin Walker (Knoxville, Tenn.) layup with 50 seconds remaining sent the Eagles into the locker room with a 42-36 lead.
The Eagles pushed their lead to as much as 15 points on three different occasions in the second half, with the last being at 61-46 on a layup by Bobby Guyton with 12:36 left.
The Bulldogs then went on a 22-7 run capped by a Turner jumper to tie the game at 68-68, but Guyton sank a basket at the 4:32 mark to give C-N the lead for good at 70-68.
