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University of Central Oklahoma Athletics

The Official Site of Central Oklahoma University Athletics Central Oklahoma Athletics
Jarred Bairstow
71
Winner Central Oklahoma UCOMEN 8-8, 4-6
61
Nebraska-Kearney UNKMBB 8-7, 5-5
Winner
Central Oklahoma UCOMEN
8-8, 4-6
71
Final
61
Nebraska-Kearney UNKMBB
8-7, 5-5
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Central Oklahoma UCOMEN 37 34 71
Nebraska-Kearney UNKMBB 20 41 61

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Aussie Rules

KEARNEY, Neb. (Jan. 14) – Jarred Bairstow dominated the opening minutes in staking Central Oklahoma to a big early lead and the Bronchos rode a staunch defensive effort to a 71-61 victory over Nebraska-Kearney here  Thursday night.
 
The Australian senior scored the first eight points of the game and had 10 points and three rebounds after four minutes as UCO raced to a quick double-digit lead en route to its third straight win.
 
The Bronchos limited UNK to 36.5-percent shooting from the field and -- with Garen Wright leading the way -- held scoring ace Connor Beranek to nine points, nearly 17 under his 25.7 average that ranks second in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association.
 
"Jared hit some big shots early and we did a great job defensively, especially at the start of the game," head coach Tom Hankins said.  "It's tough to win any game on the road in this league and I was really proud of the way we came out ready to play tonight."
 
UCO evened its record at 8-8 and moved to 4-6 in the league while the Lopers fell to 8-7 and 5-5 in suffering just their second home loss of the season.   It was the first time the Bronchos have won a conference road game over UNK.
 
Bairstow had his career-high scoring game for the third straight contest, finishing with 21 points on 9-of-15 shooting from the field with two 3-pointers.  He added a team-best nine rebounds – all defensive – along with with one assist and one steal in a team-high 36 minutes.
 
Seth Heckart had 13 points, five assists, four rebounds and two steals, while Cornell Neal added 10 points, three assists and two steals.  Trai Jordan chipped in nine points, six rebounds and four assists and Wright had eight points and three steals to go with his stellar defensive outing.
 
The Bronchos never trailed, led by 17 (37-20) at intermission and had 22-point control at 50-28 with 12:45 left to play before UNK mounted a big rally to make things interesting down the stretch.
 
The Lopers made 8-of-11 shots with four 3-pointers in a 20-5 run that cut UCO's lead to seven (55-48) at the 5:21 mark, but the Bronchos appeared safe after Jordan's emphatic one-handed dunk off a fast-break feed from Kendahl Amerson made it 62-50 with 3:00 remaining.
 
UNK managed to get within six (67-61) with 1:15 left before UCO finally put the game away at the free throw line, getting two foul shots from Jordan at 1:15 and two more from Heckart at 0:59 following a Loper miss to arrange the final margin.
 
The Bronchos never trailed after Bairstow opened the game with back-to-back 3-pointers – one from the wing and the other from the top of the key – off passes from Neal and Jordan before making a layup off another Jordan feed to give UCO a quick 8-0 lead.
 
A drive and left-handed layup by Bairstow upped the advantage to double digits at 12-2 barely four minutes into the game and it was a big 14-point lead at 19-5 when Jordan London buried a corner trey.
 
The Bronchos pushed their lead to 15 (28-13) on Heckart's 3-pointer at the 6:29 mark and seized the big 17-point halftime cushion (37-2) just before the buzzer on Amerson's long-range bomb off a Heckart pass.
 
UCO stays on the road Saturday, traveling to Hays, Kan. to take on Fort Hays State at 4 p.m.
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