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University of Central Oklahoma Athletics

The Official Site of Central Oklahoma University Athletics Central Oklahoma Athletics
Seth Heckart
69
Fort Hays State FHSU 16-11, 9-9 MIAA
76
Winner Central Oklahoma UCO 18-9, 11-7 MIAA
Fort Hays State FHSU
16-11, 9-9 MIAA
69
Final
76
Central Oklahoma UCO
18-9, 11-7 MIAA
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 OT 1 F
Fort Hays State FHSU 34 31 4 69
Central Oklahoma UCO 31 34 11 76

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Overtime Thriller

EDMOND (Feb. 26) – Mahlon Jones scored six of his season-high 26 points in overtime and Central Oklahoma survived Fort Hays State 76-69 Thursday night at Hamilton Field House.
 
The Bronchos didn't score the final 2:11 of regulation and had to sweat out a buzzer-beating free throw situation that saw the Tigers make one of two foul shots with .2 seconds remaining and a chance to win the game.
 
UCO never trailed in the five-minute extra period after taking a one-point lead on Garen Wright's free throw.  Jones' tip-in of his owned missed shot put the Bronchos up 68-65 and it was 72-67 after Philip Brown's layup at the 1:43 mark.
 
Jones followed an FHSU score with another layup to keep the lead at five and the 6-foot-1 senior guard then clinched the win by draining two free throws at 0:26 after rebounding a Tiger miss.
 
UCO improved to 18-9 on the season and 11-7 in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association in giving 13th-year head coach Terry Evans his 261st career victory, moving him into a tie with Jim Seward for the most wins in program history.
 
"It was a tough game that could have gone either way and we made some big plays in overtime to come out with a good win," said Evans, now 261-123 at the helm.  "We didn't close it out like we should have, but I thought we showed a lot of character at the end."
 
Jones scored 22 of his 26 points in the second half, finishing 9-of-16 from the field and 8-of-11 from the line.  He added a season-best 12 rebounds and two assists.
 
Seth Heckart played 40 minutes and had 14 points, a career-high nine assists, five rebounds and two steals.  Philip Brown chipped in nine points, five rebounds and three blocked shots.
 
UCO trailed by as many as 12 (23-11) in the first half, but rallied to tie it at 31-all on two Jarred Bairstow free throws with 31 seconds left before the Tigers hit a late 3-pointer to take a 34-31 lead into the break.
 
Jones had six points and Brown four in a 12-2 run the first four minutes of the second half to give the Bronchos a 43-36 lead and it was still a six-point advantage at 46-40 following Trai Jordan's fast-break layup off a nice Darrius Bryson pass with 13:41 remaining.
 
FHSU came back to take a 57-55 lead at the 6:46 mark and it was close the rest of the way.  Jones made two foul shots at 2:11 to put UCO on top 65-62, but the Bronchos didn't score again in regulation.
 
The Tigers made it 65-64 with 1:49 remaining and the teams traded misses.  FHSU's Dom Samac was fouled driving to the basket with .2 seconds left and he missed the first foul shot before drilling the second to force OT, but UCO finally prevailed.
 
The Bronchos, who have clinched a first-round home game for the MIAA Post-season Tournament, end the regular season Saturday with a 3:30 p.m. contest against Nebraska-Kearney.
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