Box Score
EDMOND (Nov. 28) – A 10-0 run to end the first half and open the second put Central Oklahoma in control and the No. 6-ranked Bronchos went on to dispose of pesky Langston 86-71 Friday night at Hamilton Field House on the first day of the OSSO Thanksgiving Classic.
UCO equaled its best start (6-0) since 1997-98 with its 17th consecutive home win, but the Bronchos struggled with their shooting in the first half and with turnovers in the final 10 minutes, though the outcome was never in doubt after the opening minute of the second half.
“It wasn't very pretty, that's for sure,” UCO coach Terry Evans said. “We didn't play with much intensity or focus and it was a sloppy game from the start. We'll get beat Saturday night if we play like that again.”
The Bronchos return Saturday to face Washburn at 8 p.m. The Ichabods dropped a 105-99 overtime decision to Southwestern Oklahoma in Friday's first game, with the Bulldogs set to take on Langston at 6 p.m. Saturday.
UCO had an eight-point lead (30-22) late in the first half, but pushed that to a 35-22 halftime advantage on a David Thomas 3-pointer with 54 seconds left and a Michael Sosanya tip-in with five seconds remaining.
The Bronchos then got a Tyler Phillips trey 10 seconds into the second half and a Lance Harper layup 30 seconds later after a turnover to extend the margin to 18 (40-22), with the Lions never getting closer than 12 the rest of the way.
Sosanya and Harper each hit 7-of-10 field goals in scoring 14 points apiece to lead a balanced attack. UCO also got 11 points from Eric Cazenave and 10 each from Phillips and DeAngelo Garrett.
The Bronchos shot just 39.5 percent (15-of-38) from the field in the first half, but hit 56.4 percent (22-of-39) of their shots in the final 20 minutes. UCO had nine of its 13 turnovers in the final eight minutes of the contest.
Langston led only once, at 7-4 three minutes into the game, with Cazenave tying it 20 seconds later and then Sosanya putting the Bronchos on top to stay with a layup at the 15:43 mark.
UCO used its late surge to take the 13-point lead at intermission and followed with the early second-half flurry to seize command, with the lead peaking at 23 (63-40) on an Adam Terneus 3-pointer with 10:34 left.
The Lions used a rash of 3-pointers and UCO turnovers to pull within 12 at 77-65 with 2:22 remaining, but a Cazenave layup and another trey by Terneus squelched any hopes Langston had of a miracle comeback.
