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UCO Wins Another Close One

Josh Gibbs
Box Score

EDMOND (Feb. 13) – Seth Heckart made two clutch free throws with 10 seconds left and Josh Gibbs rebounded a last-ditch Washburn miss to give streaking Central Oklahoma a tense 72-70 victory Thursday night at Hamilton Field House.
 
An 85-percent free throw shooter for the season, Heckart swished two foul shots at 0:10 gave the Bronchos a 72-69 lead and Gibbs fouled Leon Flowers before he could put up a game-tying 3-point try with six seconds remaining.
 
Flowers hit the first free throw to make it a two-point game, but his second miss bounced out long to the Ichabods and Chris Davis launched a long 3-pointer for an improbable win.  It was off the mark, with Gibbs there to corral the errant shot and seal the verdict.
 
UCO improved to 15-7 on the season and 9-6 in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association with its fourth straight win, three of them by two points or less.  WU fell to 15-7 and 8-7.
 
"We struggled some offensively, but we did a lot of good things and came out with a big win," head coach Terry Evans said.  "Our guys are really battling out there and we're finding a way to win these close games."
 
Gibbs led the way with his 16th double-double of the season, finishing with game highs for points (21) and rebounds (12) while adding four assists.  Cal Andrews was perfect at the line (8-of-8) and nailed 3-of-4 field goals – all 3-pointers – in an efficient 17-point outing.
 
The Bronchos also got 12 points from Aaron Anderson and 11 from Heckart, who made three treys and also pulled down six rebounds.
 
UCO, which dropped a 76-69 decision to the Ichabods three weeks ago, led 40-32 at halftime and still had an eight-point advantage at 55-47 with 12:25 left to play.
 
Washburn trimmed that to 56-55 by the 9:47 mark and it was a back-and-forth battle the rest of the way.  The Ichabods took a 67-65 lead with 4:00 left, but a Heckart steal led to two Anderson free throws and a 67-all tie at 3:06.
 
Heckart came up with two more big plays to help the Bronchos move in front, rebounding a WU miss that led to an Anderson layup and making another steal that resulted in one Jarred Bairstow free throw for a 70-67 lead with 1:52 left.
 
The teams traded misses before the Ichabods scored at 0:50 to make it 70-69 and Anderson kept alive UCO's next possession with a huge offensive rebound.
 
WU was then forced to foul Heckart and the sophomore guard calmly drained both free throws to set up the wild finish.
 
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