Bronchos Hold Off OCU

11/12/2009 10:27:57 PM

Dauntae Williams

Box Score

EDMOND (Nov. 12) – Shane Carroll and Chris Rhymes scored six points apiece in the final four minutes as Central Oklahoma survived a frantic Oklahoma City rally for an 82-77 exhibition victory Thursday night at Hamilton Field House.

The Bronchos led 53-33 at halftime and were up 24 (57-33) early in the second half before poor shooting and a rash of turnovers helped spark an OCU rally that got the Stars within two at 68-66 with 4:04 left to play.

Carroll and Rhymes kept UCO in front, each going 4-of-4 from the free throw line and adding a bucket to give the Bronchos a victory in their exhibition finale.

“We did a lot of good things the first half and early in the second, but then we let OCU back in the game,” said head coach Terry Evans, whose team lost exhibitions to Baylor and Oklahoma State last week. “We had a lot of careless turnovers and didn't do a very good job running our offense, things we can't afford to do.”

Rhymes led the Bronchos with 21 points and Carroll finished with 15 while going 4-for-4 from the field and 6-of-7 from the line. UCO also got 13 points, four assists and two steals from Dauntae Williams and 12 points and nine rebounds from Tyler Phillips.

The Bronchos never trailed, jumping out to a 19-4 lead six minutes into the contest as seven different players scored, and it was a 20-point bulge (53-33) at intermission.

Back-to-back layups by Phillips and Rhymes to open the second half pushed the lead to 57-33, but UCO then turned the ball over on its next six possessions to let the Stars back in the game.

OCU finally cut the deficit to two at 68-66 with 4:04 remaining when Rhymes and Carroll took over.

Rhymes' had a tip-in at the 3:46 mark to make it 70-66, then Carroll followed a quick OCU miss with two free throws to up the lead to 72-66. Another miss led to Carroll's short baseline jumper that made it 74-66 with 2:51 left.

Rhymes made two free throws at 2:11, Brent Friday hit two at 0:44 and Rhymes converted two more at 0:31 to counter the Stars and keep the Bronchos in front by six at 80-74 before a three-point play pulled OCU within 80-77 with 13 seconds left.

Carroll was then fouled on the inbounds and made both foul shots at 0:11 to clinch the win.

UCO makes its official season debut Monday, hosting Emporia State at 7 p.m.

Print Friendly Version

Related Videos

Related Stories