University of Central Oklahoma Athletics

Griffons Rally Past UCO

1/3/2013 10:50:00 PM

Spencer Smith

Box Score

EDMOND (Jan. 3) – It was a tale of two halves for Central Oklahoma Thursday night at Hamilton Field House and the end result was another disappointing home loss.

The Bronchos nailed nine 3-pointers in opening up a 44-30 halftime lead over Missouri Western before making just 2-of-11 long-range attempts in the final 20 minutes as the Griffons rallied for a stunning 78-77 Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association victory.

MWSU got the game-winning basket with just eight seconds left and UCO turned the ball over on its final possession in dropping its fourth straight home game by three points or less.

The Bronchos, now 3-8 on the season and 1-2 in league play, are back home again Saturday to host No. 8-ranked Washburn at 3:30 p.m.

UCO appeared in control after grabbing its 14-point halftime cushion before the Griffons opened the second half with a 13-3 run to quickly pull within 46-43 and get back in the game.

But the Bronchos stayed in front and upped their lead back to nine on a couple of occasions, the final time at 64-55 with 8:17 left on a short James Watson jumper.

The lead was 70-64 following a Josh Gibbs layup at the 5:17 mark, but MWSU scored seven answered points to take its first lead of the game at 71-70 with 4:01 remaining.

Two Gibbs free throws put UCO back in front 72-71 before a 5-0 run gave the Griffons a 76-72 advantage with 1:44 to play.

Smith drilled a trey from the top of the key at 1:21 to pull the Bronchos within one and his steal 30 seconds later led to a pair of Seth Heckart free throws that gave UCO a 77-76 lead with 19 seconds left.

MWSU's Reed Mells crushed UCO's hopes when his leaning 10-foot jumper swished through at 0:08 to put the Griffons on top 78-77 and it stayed that way when the Bronchos threw the ball away at 0:06.

Gibbs made four first-half 3-pointers and led UCO with 20 points, while Smith and Jamelle Cormier had 13 points each. June Carter chipped in a game-high 11 rebounds to go with four points.

The Bronchos ended up shooting just 36.5 percent (23-of-63) from the field and 64.5 percent (20-of-31) from the line.

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