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University of Central Oklahoma Athletics

The Official Site of Central Oklahoma University Athletics Central Oklahoma Athletics
Trai Jordan
77
Winner Southwestern Okla. SWOSU 4-1
73
Central Oklahoma UCO 3-1
Winner
Southwestern Okla. SWOSU
4-1
77
Final
73
Central Oklahoma UCO
3-1
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Southwestern Okla. SWOSU 28 49 77
Central Oklahoma UCO 35 38 73

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Bulldogs Rally Past UCO

EDMOND (Nov. 24) – Central Oklahoma led nearly the entire game before succumbing to a stunning late-game rally in dropping a 77-73 decision to long-time rival Southwestern Oklahoma Tuesday night at Hamilton Field House.
 
The Bronchos were in front for 36 of the 40 minutes and appeared in good shape with a 73-68 lead with less than a minute to play, but the Bulldogs reeled off nine unanswered points in the final 47 seconds to hand UCO its first loss after a 3-0 start.
 
Two missed free throws with 55 seconds left prevented the Bronchos from adding to a 73-68 lead and SWOSU hit a 3-pointer at 0:47. The Bulldogs forced a turnover at midcourt and drilled another trey 16 seconds later to go up 74-73.
 
Cornell Neal's driving layup rolled off the rim with 16 seconds to play and SWOSU was fouled on the rebound, making both foul shots to go up 76-73.
 
Kendahl Amerson then rimmed out a tying 3-point try at 0:09 and the Bulldogs again pulled in the rebound, making one free throw to arrange the final margin in winning their fourth straight game.
 
"That's a tough way to lose a game," said first-year head coach Tom Hankins after suffering his first loss at the helm.  "We played well for stretches and did some good things, but we made a lot of mistakes at the end that cost us."
 
UCO also struggled at the free throw line again, making just 16-of-30 attempts (53.3 percent).
 
Amerson led the Bronchos with 19 points and Garen Wright had 15 points and eight rebounds.  Neal finished with 10 points, four assists and three steals, while Trai Jordan contributed nine points, eight boards and five blocked shots.
 
Wright had eight points in a 17-2 first-half run that turned an early 5-4 deficit into a 21-7 lead and UCO stretched its advantage to 17 at 29-12 on an Amerson layup with 5:18 left.
 
SWOSU got to within seven (35-28) by intermission, but Jordan opened the second half with a steal and driving dunk to start a 7-0 spurt that put the Bronchos on top 42-28.
 
It was still a double-digit lead at 48-38 following a Josh Holliday 3-pointer with 14:20 remaining before the Bulldogs starting lighting it up from outside.  SWOSU hit two straight treys to quickly get within four and it was close the rest of the way.
 
The Bronchos are back in action this weekend for the UCO Thanksgiving Classic, hosting Oklahoma City at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Southern Nazarene at 7:30 Saturday.
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