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Corey Alpough
UCO Photo Services
Corey Alpough
59
Central Oklahoma UCOMEN 5-7, 1-5
78
Winner Northwest Missouri NWMSU 8-4, 5-2
Central Oklahoma UCOMEN
5-7, 1-5
59
Final
78
Northwest Missouri NWMSU
8-4, 5-2
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Central Oklahoma UCOMEN 38 21 59
Northwest Missouri NWMSU 29 49 78

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Northwest Missouri Too Much For Bronchos

MARYVILLE, Mo. (Jan. 2) – It was the tale of two drastically different halves for Central Oklahoma here Saturday as the Bronchos fell to Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association rival Northwest Missouri 78-59.
 
UCO built a 38-29 halftime lead behind 53.3-percent shooting, but made just 5-of-26 shots (19.2 percent) in the final 20 minutes.  The Bearcats, meanwhile, nailed a sizzling 68.0 percent (17-of-25) of their second-half field goal tries in outscoring the Bronchos 48-21.
 
It was the sixth loss in seven outings for UCO, which fell to 5-7 overall and 1-5 in the conference in playing its sixth straight league road game.  NWMSU improved to 8-4 and 5-2.
 
"We played really well in the first half and then just didn't do anything right in the second," head coach Tom Hankins said.  "We couldn't buy a bucket and they (NWMSU) didn't miss one, which was a bad combination."
 
The Bronchos scored the first two points of the second half on a pair of Jarred Bairstow free throws to go up 40-29 and  went stone cold after that.  UCO made just two free throws in the next five minutes as NWMSU went on a 14-2 run to take a 43-42 lead.
 
Trai Jordan put UCO back on top 44-43 with a layup off a Seth Heckart pass, but the Bearcats responded with nine straight points to take a 52-44 lead with 11:27 remaining and the Bronchos never answered back.
 
Corey Alpough scored a season-high 17 points off the bench to lead UCO, hitting 8-of-15 shots while adding five rebounds.  Bairstow had a fine all-around game with 11 points, five rebounds, four assists, two blocked shots and two steals.
 
The Bronchos led the entire first half after Bairstow opened the game with a short jumper and the margin was 10 at 32-22 following two Kendahl Amerson free throws.
 
NWMSU cut it to five (34-29) with 1:55 left, but Bairstow hit a jumper at 1:26 and Cornell Neal went in for a layup at 0:58 after an Alpough steal to give UCO its nine-point (38-29) halftime advantage.
 
The Bronchos wrap up their seven-game MIAA road-swing Monday with a 7:30 p.m. contest at Missouri Western.
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