UCO Tames Gorillas

2/23/2013 7:28:00 PM

Jamell Cormier

Box Score

EDMOND (Feb. 23) – Christian Huffman scored eight points in a devastating 23-3 first-half run that put Central Oklahoma in control and the streaking Bronchos went on to topple Pittsburg State 92-76 Saturday afternoon at Hamilton Field House.

UCO used that big scoring spurt to turn a 7-5 deficit early in the contest into a 28-10 lead en route to a big 46-26 halftime cushion and then turned back a couple of Gorilla uprisings in the second half to win its fifth straight game and stay in the thick of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association race.

The Bronchos improved to 12-11 on the year and 10-5 in the league, tied for second with Washburn in the standings just one game behind co-leaders Central Missouri and Fort Hays State. PSU fell to 15-9 and 8-8.

UCO also avenged an 81-70 conference-opening loss to the Gorillas in winning for the sixth time in seven outings. The Bronchos are back in action Monday at Missouri Southern.

“We started a little slow, but got things going and played really well the rest of the game,” head coach Terry Evans said. “We took care of the basketball and did a great job running our offense. It was a good win and we're playing with a lot of confidence right now.”

UCO committed a season-low six turnovers in the game and shot 52.7 percent (29-of-55) from the field.

Josh Gibbs led the way with 23 points, eight rebounds and four assists, hitting 9-of-13 shots from the field. Huffman made 7-of-10 field goal attempts in finishing with 17 points, while Spencer Smith was a perfect 7-of-7 at the line in scoring 13 points.

The Bronchos also got 10 points apiece from Jamell Cormier and June Carter, with Cormier adding three assists and three steals.

UCO overcame its early 7-5 deficit in impressive fashion, getting a three-point play from Cormier to take the lead for good and kick-start the big run. Huffman followed that with five straight points and added a three-point play minutes later as the Bronchos moved in front 28-10 by the 8:25 mark.

The lead reached 20 at 35-15 on a Smith jumper before PSU came back with an 11-2 run to pull within 37-26. The Bronchos answered back with the final nine points of the half, with Nic Combs' layup at 0:14 remaining making it 46-26 at intermission.

The Gorillas clawed to within 13 (59-46) in the second half before UCO hit three 3-pointers – including two by Carter – in an 11-3 run that made it 70-49 with 11:44 left to play. The lead reached 20 again at 73-53 on a Seth Heckart trey at 9:51, but PSU came back with 10 unanswered points and was within nine (75-66) at the 4:59 mark.

Huffman stopped that charge with a layup and Gibbs followed with a 3-pointer to push UCO's lead back to 14 at 80-66 and the Bronchos coasted in from there.

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