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University of Central Oklahoma Athletics

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Trai Jordan
69
Nebraska Kearney UNK 17-9, 12-7 MIAA
74
Winner Central Oklahoma UCO 19-9, 12-7 MIAA
Nebraska Kearney UNK
17-9, 12-7 MIAA
69
Final
74
Central Oklahoma UCO
19-9, 12-7 MIAA
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Nebraska Kearney UNK 40 29 69
Central Oklahoma UCO 30 44 74

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Late Rally Gives Evans Record Win

EDMOND (Feb. 28) – A sensational late-game rally propelled Central Oklahoma past Nebraska-Kearney and handed head coach Terry Evans an historic victory Saturday afternoon at Hamilton Field House.
 
Trai Jordan and Garen Wright scored five points each in a game-closing 13-2 run that lifted the Bronchos to a thrilling 74-69 Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association triumph that made Evans the winningest coach in program history.
 
UCO overcame a 13-point second-half deficit in pulling out the win, the 262nd of Evans' stellar 13-year career with the Bronchos.  Evans, now 262-123 at the helm, surpassed Jim Seward (261-165 from 1987-02) for the all-time lead.
 
"Our guys fought hard the whole game and we did a great job at the end in making plays on both ends of the floor," Evans said.  "It's an honor to have the most wins at UCO, but that wouldn't have been possible without all the great players and assistant coaches I've been fortunate enough to work with during my time here."
 
UCO improved to 19-9 on the season and 12-7 in the league with the dramatic win.  The Bronchos finished in a five-way tie for third in the final standings and will host Missouri Western Monday at 7 p.m. in the first round of the MIAA Post-season Tournament.
 
The Bronchos appeared doomed after UNK took a 55-42 lead with 14:18 left to play, but UCO steadily cut away at that 13-point deficit and pulled within three (64-61) on Philip Brown's layup with 6:15 remaining.
 
The Lopers came back with three unanswered points to go up 67-61 before Jordan started the final comeback by making one of two free throws at the 4:18 mark.
 
Jordan made a follow shot at 3:49 to make it 67-64 and then answered one UNK free throw with a nifty inside move for a layup that pulled the Bronchos within 68-66.
 
Seth Heckart split two foul shots to make it 68-67 and then Wright gave UCO its first lead of the game at 70-68 when he drilled a corner 3-pointer off a Heckart pass with 1:15 to play.
 
The Lopers made one free throw at 1:04, Mahlon Jones drove in for a layup with 34 seconds left to put the Bronchos up 72-69 and Brown rebounded a missed 3-pointer at 0:23.  Wright was fouled at 0:13 and drained both charity tosses to make it 74-69 and end the suspense.
 
UCO had five players in double figures, with Brown making 6-of-10 shots in a 16-point outing while adding eight rebounds and four blocked shots.  Jordan was 7-of-8 from the field in scoring a season-high 16 points to go with five boards and two blocks.
 
The Bronchos also got 13 points from Wright, 11 points, eight rebounds and five assists from Heckart and 10 points from Jones.
 
The Lopers led by as many as 12 in the first half and took a 40-30 cushion into intermission as UCO missed all nine 3-point tries in the opening 20 minutes.
 
UNK went up by 13 (55-42) six minutes into the second half before Wright hit a trey that kick-started the comeback.
 
UCO had a season-low six turnovers in the contest and ended up shooting 50 percent (27-of-54) for the game, though the Bronchos made just 4-of-15 long-range attempts (26.7 percent).
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