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University of Central Oklahoma Athletics

The Official Site of Central Oklahoma University Athletics Central Oklahoma Athletics
Jordan London
74
Winner Central Oklahoma UCOMEN 1-0
71
Northwestern Okla. NWOSUM 0-1
Winner
Central Oklahoma UCOMEN
1-0
74
Final
71
Northwestern Okla. NWOSUM
0-1
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 OT 1 F
Central Oklahoma UCOMEN 29 32 13 74
Northwestern Okla. NWOSUM 33 28 10 71

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Buzzer Beater

DURANT, Okla. (Nov. 13) – Freshman Jordan London nailed a 3-point shot with one second remaining to lift Central Oklahoma to a thrilling 74-71 season-opening victory over Northwestern Oklahoma on the first day of the MIAA/GAC Challenge here Friday night.
 
It was the UCO head coaching debut of Tom Hankins and the Bronchos gave him a win in dramatic fashion after overcoming a 10-point first-half deficit and blowing a 12-point second-half lead.

"It wasn't very pretty, but I was proud of the way we battled tonight to come out with a good win," said Hankins, who took over the helm in May after serving the previous 18 years as a Division I assistant.  "We made some big plays in overtime and Jordan hit a clutch shot."
 
UCO trailed 67-63 and the Rangers had the ball with two minutes left in the overtime period, but Cornell Neal made driving layup after a steal and then followed an NWOSU miss with a three-point play to give the Bronchos a 68-67 lead with 1:32 left.
 
Neal came through again at the 0:56 mark with a short jumper after a turnover to push the lead to 70-67, but the Rangers hit two foul shots at 0:44 to get within 70-69.
 
Kendahl Amerson made one of two free throws at 0:10 to make it 71-69 and NWOSU needed just four seconds to score the tying bucket on a layup.
 
That gave UCO plenty of time, with Neal finding London open for the game-winning shot just ahead of the final buzzer.
 
Freshman Josh Holliday came off the bench to lead the Bronchos with 21 points and eight rebounds, hitting 7-of-14 shots with three treys and 4-of-4 free throws.
 
Amerson added 11 points, while Neal had 10 points, five assists and three steals.  Trai Jordan also had 10 points and London finished with eight as the Bronchos played without leading returning scorer Seth Heckart, who was unavailable after hurting his back in practice Thursday.
 
UCO trailed most of the first half and was down 10 (25-15) before rallying to get within four at 33-29 by intermission.
 
The Bronchos appeared to take control the first 10 minutes of the second half, getting 10 points from Holliday in outscoring NWOSU 28-12 in that span to surge in front 57-45.
 
It was still a 12-point cushion at 59-47 following a Holliday layup at the 9:02 mark, but UCO went cold and the Rangers scored 14 unanswered points to grab a 61-59 lead with 1:58 to play.
 
Jordan had the only points the rest of the way with a follow shot at 0:55 to tie it at 61-all and NWOSU missed two shots at the win in the final 25 seconds.
 
The Bronchos are back in action at 7:30 p.m. Saturday against Southeastern Oklahoma.
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