Bronchos Fall To Missouri Southern

1/8/2014 10:36:00 PM

Aaron Anderson

Box Score

EDMOND (Jan. 8) – A buzzer-beating shot to end the first half put Missouri Southern on top and Central Oklahoma couldn't catch the hot-shooting Lions in the second half in dropping a 92-79 decision Wednesday night at Hamilton Field House.

The Bronchos overcame a 10-point deficit to grab a 33-32 lead late in the half and had a chance to take the last shot before a turnover enabled MSSU to make a last-second jumper that gave it a 34-33 halftime lead.

The Lions then scored the first five points of the second half and went on to shoot a sizzling 70.8 percent (17-of-24) in the final 20 minutes to hand UCO a rare home loss.

"We didn't do a very good job defensively and allowed them too many easy shots," head coach Terry Evans said. "It's a disappointing loss, but we just have to put it behind us and get ready for Saturday."

The Bronchos fell to 9-4 on the season and 3-3 in Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association play headed into Saturday's 3:30 p.m. home contest with Southwest Baptist. MSSU improved to 10-2 and 4-1.

Josh Gibbs led UCO with 23 points and 10 rebounds for his NCAA Division II-leading 13^th double-double of the season. Cal Andrews made three 3-pointers in adding 16 points and Aaron Anderson had 15, but the Bronchos gave up 45 points in the paint and got just 14 points from their bench.

UCO fell behind 8-3 quickly before getting five points from Gibbs in a 7-0 run to take a 10-8 lead. The Lions quickly moved back in front and pushed their advantage to 10 (23-13) with 8:10 left.

The Bronchos rallied late, pulling within one at 29-28 on Andrews' conventional three-point play at the 2:35 mark and going ahead on two Anderson free throws 23 seconds later.

Philip Brown added a free throw at 1:42 to give UCO a 31-29 lead and he answered an MSSU bucket with a short jumper to make it 33-32 before the Lions took the lead for good on Matt Everson's buzzer-beater.

The deficit grew to 42-35 early in the second half before Jacob Strassle drilled a 3-pointer from the wing, but the Lions responded with five straight points and UCO got no closer than seven the rest of the way.

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