Box Score
EDMOND (Dec. 15) -- Tarleton State would rather not see Central Oklahoma's Eric Cazenave again.
Cazenave proved to be the Texans' nemesis for the second straight time Monday night at Hamilton Field House, nailing four 3-pointers and scoring a career-high 23 points to spark the No. 7-ranked Bronchos to a 79-68 Lone Star Conference crossover triumph.
The junior sharpshooter lifted UCO to a 77-76 win over Tarleton in last year's South Central Regional finals on a 3-pointer with 3.5 seconds remaining and he was a thorn in the Texans' side again Monday.
Cazenave hit 8-of-12 shots -- including 4-of-5 3-pointers -- and 3-of-4 free throws in his 23-point outing while adding three assists and three steals.
Michael Sosanya also had a strong outing for the Bronchos, hitting 6-of-9 shots and all six free throw attempts in tying a career high with 18 points. Lance Harper added 10 points.
UCO improved to 9-1 with Its 19th straight home win, the best start since the 1996-97 team opened 12-1. The Bronchos return to action this weekend at the St. Mary's Classic in San Antonio, Texas, playing Saturday and Sunday.
UCO overcame a seven-point first-half deficit to take a 37-35 lead at the break and the Texans were within 39-38 early In the second half before the Bronchos went on a 12-1 run.
Sosanya scored the first six points of that spurt, with Keith Marks, David Thomas and Brent Friday adding buckets as UCO opened up a 12-point advantage (51-39) with 14:37 left to play.
Tarleton tried to get back in the game down the stretch and was within eight at 65-57 with 5:40 remaining, but Cazenave drilled a 3-pointer from the corner 16 seconds later and Sosanya followed a quick Texan miss with a fast-break slam dunk to push the lead to 70-57.
The lead peaked at 15 (75-60) after a short Cazenave jumper at the 3:23 mark and UCO coasted in from there.
The first half was a back-and-forth affair that saw 14 lead changes and six ties. Tarleton grabbed a 31-24 lead with 5:44 left before intermission, but UCO responded with a 13-1 run to take the lead for good.
Thomas started the surge with a layup and Cazenave ended It with three free throws in a 13-second stretch to give the Bronchos a 37-32 lead en route to the 37-35 halftime advantage.
