Box Score
BARTLESVILLE, Okla. (March 5) – Unbelievable!
Central Oklahoma used a pair of amazing late comebacks to pull out a 77-76 overtime nail-biter over Tarleton State in the first round of the Lone Star Conference Men's Basketball Championship here Thursday afternoon to keep its bid for a repeat title intact.
The No. 10-ranked Bronchos rallied from 10 points down in the last five minutes of regulation to force the extra session and then overcame a nine-point deficit with 2:20 left in OT to pull out the thrilling win as Eric Cazenave had two clutch defensive plays in the final 30 seconds.
UCO improved to 24-4 and advanced to Saturday's 12 p.m. semifinals against LSC North Division rival Southwestern Oklahoma, which knocked off Angelo State in Thursday's first game.
Click here for the photo gallery of the game. Click here for a feature story on Cazenave.
“As hard as both teams played it's a shame somebody had to lose,” UCO coach Terry Evans said. “Our guys kept fighting and fighting and never quit. We played good defense down the stretch and came out with a good win.
“It wasn't pretty, but it was a physical, hard-fought game and we're just happy to still be playing.”
The Bronchos outscored TSU 9-0 the final four minutes of regulation to tie it at 64-all and force overtime, but then missed four shots and two free throws to start the five-minute extra period while the Texans nailed three 3-pointers to open up a 73-64 lead.
Lance Harper started UCO's comeback with an inside bucket at the 2:10 mark and Cazenave hit two free throws at 1:39 to cut the deficit to 73-68. Tarleton missed the front end of a one-and-one with 1:03 left and the Bronchos got within one when Adam Terneus buried a 3-pointer from the top of the key at 0:48.
A Tarleton turnover led to one Harper free throw at 0:37 to make it 73-72 and Cazenave came up with a quick steal on the other end that led to a David Thomas layup to give UCO its first lead since the opening minutes of the game at 74-73.
Harper rebounded a missed TSU shot with 10 seconds left and was fouled, but he missed both free throws. Cazenave then came up with his second clutch defensive play, drawing a charge with 1.8 seconds left – a call that drew the ire of Tarleton head coach Lonn Reisman and resulted in a technical fall.
Cazenave made both charity tosses to up the lead to 76-73 and then Thomas added one after he was fouled on the inbounds play to make it 77-73, which turned out to be huge when Jeremiah Wilson threw in a desperation halfcourt heave at the buzzer to create the final score.
Cazenave, who made a last-second 3-pointer in UCO's 77-76 win over Tarleton in last year's South Central Regional finals, led the Bronchos with 15 points, seven rebounds and four assists.
Terneus hit four 3-pointers and added 14 points, while Harper (13 points, 11 rebounds) and Thomas (14 points, 10 rebounds) both finished with double-doubles.
The Bronchos shot just 37.3 percent (22-of-59) from the field and 60.0 percent (27-of-45) from the line.
UCO trailed 33-29 at halftime and was within 44-43 after a Harper layup with 12:24 left to play, but Effran Bryant hit three treys in a two-minute span to push Tarleton's lead to 55-46.
The Texans went on to led by 10 twice (58-48 and 60-50) and were up 64-55 with 4:55 left before UCO began its late comeback that started with a Terneus trey and ended with the game going to overtime.
