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University of Central Oklahoma Athletics

The Official Site of Central Oklahoma University Athletics Central Oklahoma Athletics
Jordan Hemphill
73
Emporia State ESU 9-19, 4-15 MIAA
76
Winner Central Oklahoma UCO 19-9, 12-7 MIAA
Emporia State ESU
9-19, 4-15 MIAA
73
Final
76
Central Oklahoma UCO
19-9, 12-7 MIAA
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Emporia State ESU 27 46 73
Central Oklahoma UCO 25 51 76

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | Chris Brannick

Bronchos Clip Hornets in Season Finale

EDMOND – The University of Central Oklahoma men's basketball team clinched a first-round bye in next week's Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association postseason tournament with a 76-73 win over Emporia State Saturday at Hamilton Field House.
 
Central Oklahoma earned the No. 4 seed in next week's tournament and will play Friday night in Kansas City, Mo. at historic Municipal Auditorium against the winner of fifth-seeded Central Missouri and 12th-seeded Missouri Western, which play Tuesday night in Warrensburg, Mo. UCO has never earned a first-round bye in this its sixth season in the MIAA.
 
SEE THE MIAA TOURNAMENT BRACKET HERE
 
"The guys really fought hard tonight," UCO head coach Tom Hankins said. "I don't think we match-up well with Emporia State. They haven't won as many games this season, but they beat us their place and they give us some problems. But when we start to knock down some shots, we play well enough on defense to give us a chance to beat anybody. We had to dig down and fight today and we did that."
 
UCO got a career-high from true freshman Jordan Hemphill, who scored 20 points on 7 of 14 shooting. He hit one 3-pointer and all five of his free-throw attempts. Hemphill added three rebounds and two steals and played a turnover-free game for the fourth time in the last six games.
 
Marqueese Grayson chipped in 16 points – all in the second half – on a 6-for-9 shooting night. He also hit one 3-pointer and made all three of his free-throw attempts.
 
Josh Holliday scored 14 points. He sank three from downtown and made three more from the charity stripe while adding six rebounds on the afternoon. Corbin Byford joined the double-digit scorers with 11 points and had a team-high eight rebounds.
 
Jake Hammond didn't pile up stats, though he played a key role in continuing UCO's trend of physical inside play. He had five points, six rebounds and two blocked shots.
 
Central trailed at halftime Saturday. The Bronchos led for 11:43 of the first half, and trailed just 3:46. UCO's biggest lead of the of the half was just six points.
 
Hemphill put the Bronchos up by one with a pair of free-throws with 17 seconds left in the first half. But Emporia's Brandon Hall knocked down a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to make it 27-25 as the team's headed to their locker rooms.
 
Emporia then built its biggest lead of the game, 41-36, with 12:47 to go in the second half. Central though, just kept chipping away.
 
The Bronchos were locked in a tie 12 times with Emporia State Saturday. There were 13 lead changes. The last coming after the Bronchos found themselves behind with under a minute to play.
 
Emporia went ahead 70-68 on a Garin Vandiver three with 1:25 to play. Hemphill responded with a game-tying jumper before Emporia State went up 72-70 with 48 seconds remaining on a layup from Stephaun Limeul.
 
Grayson then dug in, drove to the paint past Limeul and went up for a layup of his own. He knocked it down as he drew Limuel's fifth foul. Grayson added the free-throw to give the Bronchos a 73-72 lead with 32 seconds left.
 
Emporia used most of the remaining shot clock before Hall drove right at Hemphill trying to give the Hornets a one-point lead. Hemphill stood his ground though and forced the miss, then grabbed the rebound. He hit both of his next two free-throws to make it 75-72 with seven seconds left.
 
Hankins called for a foul to prevent ESU from getting off a potential game-tying 3-pointer. Emporia would make 1 of 2 from the line to make it 75-73. Byford then made one free-throw on the other end with two seconds left to finish off the Broncho victory.
 
Central now heads to Kansas City for the MIAA quarterfinals. Hankins has qualified the Bronchos for the postseason tournament in each of his first three seasons at the helm. UCO won first-round games in both of his first two seasons, but also lost in the quarters in both seasons. UCO will aim for a different result Friday night.
 
 
 
 
 
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