In a battle of two Top 12 teams, the Northern Oklahoma College Mavericks routed Murray State 92-67 at Foster-Piper Fieldhouse Monday night.
NOC (24-3), ranked 12th in the NJCAA, improved to 10-3 in conference play while 10th ranked Murray (21-4) dropped to 12-1 in OCAC action.
After leading 43-37 at half, the Mavs found themselves trailing Murray 51-50 midway in the second half and without leading scorer Demaree King who received two technical fouls in the first half and was ejected from the game.
In the final 14:00, the Mavs went on a 42-16 run giving the Aggies their first conference loss of the season.
"This is a statement win," said coach Donnie Jackson. "We fought through a lot of adversity last night. "I'm not sure why Demaree (King) got his second technical but it was unwarranted. Our guys rallied behind that and the technical on the breakaway dunk in the second half. None of it made any sense but we really stayed together within the moment and really started to guard defensively."
"Barron (Tanner) and Pipo (Grafals) came up with big 3-pointers in the second half," he added. "Those were momentum shifting plays and I can't say enough about JD (Ray). He is a winner and gets it done. He played the entire second half with high energy and never asked to come out of the game. I'm very proud of him."
"Tyrel (Morgan) came up with every big offensive rebound," Jackson said. "He has a knack for being around the ball. Our guys wanted this game, it could have big implications for a potential (NJCAA Tournament) at-large bid. Now, we have to find a way to finish strong with two of our three games on the road to end the regular season. Western is a hard place to go and win. We need to have good momentum heading into region play."
Tyrel Morgan led the way with 23 points while Avante Lederer and JD Ray 16 each. King and Barron Tanner added 10 each.
NOC travels to Western for Region 2 games Monday night.
Mavs 92, Murray 67
1 2 --Total
Murray 37 30-- 67
Mavs 43 49-- 92
Mavs—T. Morgan 23, A. Lederer 16, J. Ray 16, B. Tanner 10, D. King 10, P. Grafals 7, D. Bankston 5, S. Grisby 2, A. Boykin 2, M. Crawford 1.