Box Score
EDMOND (Feb. 20) -- Central Oklahoma's school-record 16-game winning streak fell by the wayside here Saturday afternoon as the No. 25-ranked Bronchos dropped an 81-74 Lone Star Conference North Division decision to Northeastern State.
A shooting slump to end the first half turned UCO's 32-25 lead into a 34-32 deficit and another drought down the stretch enabled the RiverHawks to open up a nine-point lead. The Bronchos got within three twice in the final minute, but clutch free throw shooting kept NSU in front.
It was UCO's first loss since Dec. 15, with the Bronchos dropping to 20-5 on the year and 9-1 in the LSC North. The RiverHawks improved to 18-7 overall and moved into a tie for the league lead at 9-1, with both teams having two games left in the regular season.
“It just didn't happen for us today,” UCO coach Terry Evans said. “We weren't consistent enough, both offensively and defensively, and NSU hit some big 3-pointers late when we were making a run. It's a tough loss, but we'll bounce back.”
It was the second-lowest scoring game of the season for the Bronchos, who led the LSC and ranked fourth nationally entered the contest with a 90.2 average. UCO struggled from outside, hitting just 33.3 percent (9-of-27) from beyond the arc, and was outscored 23-7 at the free throw line.
Dauntae Williams led the Bronchos with 29 points, five assists and three steals while hitting 12-of-22 shots with three treys. Eric Cazenave added 16 points and six assists and Chris Rhymes had 15 points, six rebounds and four assists.
UCO trailed 34-32 at halftime and fell behind 42-35 early in the second. It was still a five-point deficit at 45-40 with 14:23 remaining when Williams scored three consecutive layups -- two off nice feeds from Rhymes -- and Cazenave hit a 3-pointer from the corner as the Bronchos drew even at 49 with 12:01 left.
It was a 53-51 NSU lead when Cazenave scored five straight points, to give the Bronchos a 56-53 lead 7:36 left to play, but UCO missed five of its next six shots and the RiverHawks hit back-to-back 3-pointers in a 15-3 run to surge ahead 69-59.
UCO got back in it late, pulling within three at 75-72 on a long Williams trey with 42.8 seconds to go and the junior guard answered two NSU free throws with a driving layup that made it 77-74 at 0:32.6.
But the Bronchos missed their last two shots and the RiverHawks made four straight free throws to put the game away.
A Rhymes dunk that gave the Bronchos a 32-25 lead with 5:23 left in the opening half was UCO's final basket and actually trigged a 9-0 run that put the RiverHawks ahead 34-32 at the break.
Rhymes was assessed a technical for hanging on the rim following his rim-rattling jam off a nifty behind-the-back pass from Carl Curry, with NSU making the ensuing two free throws.
The RiverHawks retained possession because of the technical and scored again to make it 32-29, then added a 3-pointer and a layup to move in front 34-32 by intermission as UCO missed its final nine shots from the field.
The Bronchos opened the game by making its first four 3-point tries -- two by Rhymes -- in taking a 12-9 lead, but NSU went on an 8-3 run to go on top 17-12. The RiverHawks led 21-18 when Blake Livingston hit a layup to spark a 14-4 spurt that ended with Rhymes' dunk.
UCO plays its home finale Wednesday, hosting East Central at 8 p.m.
