Skip To Main Content

University of Central Oklahoma Athletics

The Official Site of Central Oklahoma University Athletics Central Oklahoma Athletics
Marquis Johnson
Marquis Johnson
71
Winner Central Oklahoma UCO 3-1, 0-0
63
Tarleton State TSU 2-2, 0-0
Winner
Central Oklahoma UCO
3-1, 0-0
71
Final
63
Tarleton State TSU
2-2, 0-0
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Central Oklahoma UCO 43 28 71
Tarleton State TSU 25 38 63

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

UCO Knocks Off Texans

STEPHENVILLE, Texas (Nov. 18) – An early-game 11-0 run put Central Oklahoma in control and the Bronchos went on an impressive 71-63 triumph over former conference rival Tarleton State here Saturday night.
 
UCO trailed 8-7 early in the contest before ripping off 11 unanswered points to take the lead for good.  The Bronchos built an 18-point halftime edge and were up 24 early in the second half before holding off a furious late rally by the Texans, who have made eight straight trips to the NCAA Division II national tournament.
 
"We played well tonight and came out with a great win over one of the best Division II programs in the country," head coach Tom Hankins said.  "We didn't close the game out as well as I would have liked, but we did a lot of good things, especially on the defensive end."
 
Tarleton entered the night averaging 89.7 points a game before being stymied by UCO's aggressive defense that limited the Texans to 35.4-percent shooting.  Corinthian Ramsey had made 15 3-pointers and averaged 30.0 points in TSU's first three games before being held to one trey and 15 points by the Bronchos.
 
Central improved to 3-1 with the final game of a season-opening four-game road swing.  It was the first meeting since 2011 between the two former Lone Star Conference rivals.
 
Marqueese Grayson led UCO with 18 points and four assists, hitting all eight of his free throw tries.  Marquis Johnson was the only other player in double figures with 13 to go along with five assists.
 
Corbin Byford and Anthony Roberson added nine points apiece, Jake Hammond had eight and Phabian Glasco chipped in six points with six rebounds.
 
The game was close in the early going before Hammond made a pair of close-range shots, Roberson a layup and Byford three free throws during UCO's 11-0 run that gave the Bronchos a 10-point lead (18-8) at the 11:09 mark.
 
Grayson had a tip-in and 3-pointer in a 59-second span to help grow the lead to 14 (25-11) with 7:21 left, it was a 17-point cushion at 38-21 following a Johnson layup and Jordan Hemphill's 3-pointer just before the halftime buzzer made it 43-25 at the break.
 
Central then opened the second half with back-to-back treys by Johnson and Grayson to push the advantage to 24 at 49-25 and it looked like the rout was on.
 
But Tarleton wouldn't go away.  UCO ran into some foul trouble and the Texans rallied, pulling within 66-58 with 2:38 left to play.
 
A Glasco tip-in made it a double-digit lead again at 68-58, but it was just a six-point advantage at 69-63 after a Tarleton basket with 49 seconds left and UCO then turned the ball over.
 
The Texans missed a driving layup seconds later and Glasco gathered in the rebound to end the comeback.  Grayson made two free throws with 17 seconds left to end the scoring.
 
Central makes its home debut Tuesday, hosting Jarvis Christian at 7 p.m.
 
 
 
 
Print Friendly Version
Skip Ad
Skip Sponsors