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University of Central Oklahoma Athletics

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Marquis Johnson
85
Winner Missouri Western MWSU 7-7, 1-2 MIAA
80
Central Oklahoma UCO 7-5, 0-3 MIAA
Winner
Missouri Western MWSU
7-7, 1-2 MIAA
85
Final
80
Central Oklahoma UCO
7-5, 0-3 MIAA
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Missouri Western MWSU 40 45 85
Central Oklahoma UCO 45 35 80

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | Haley Eldridge

Bronchos Bumped By Missouri Western

EDMOND – The University of Central Oklahoma men's basketball team fell to Missouri Western 85-80 Thursday night at Hamilton Field House.

UCO held a 74-73 lead with three and a half minutes to play, and a 78-77 lead with 1:07 to go in the game. But Missouri Western made 9 of 10 free-throws in the final minute to pull away with the win. 

The Bronchos move to 7-5 on the season and 0-3 in Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association play. 

"It's a tough loss." UCO head coach Tom Hankins said. "We had too many poor fouls at the end. We need to get back in the gym to make some corrections and be ready for the next one."

The Bronchos shot 48.3 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from the three-point line. Despite the loss, UCO continues to knock down free-throws having an 84.2 percentage on the night. 

The first half started off slow for both teams. Marquis Johnson started the Bronchos off with a jumper at the top of the key and the UCO defense forced a MWSU turnover. The Bronchos had six turnovers in the first half, leading to eight fast break points for Missouri Western. 

Still, UCO led most of the first half which and by as many as 10 points with 5:45 to play. That caused MWSU to change their tight man-to-man defense to a zone with two minutes left in the half. UCO answered to that change with a big three-pointer by Cooper Clark that put the Bronchos up 45-36. 

Coming out from halftime the Griffons played like a different team and began knocking down shots left and right. 

Central Oklahoma opened the second half with a Johnson 3-pointer but MWSU followed with an 11-2 run to take its first lead since early in the game, 51-50. The Bronchos changed their defense to a zone trying to force the outside shots and not let MWSU's big guys get the ball in the paint. The Bronchos came close, but it just wasn't enough. 

Missouri Western led for 13 minutes in the second half, before an Ashford Golden layup gave UCO the 74-72 layup with 3:39 to play.

Golden led the Bronchos Thursday, tying his season high with 25 points. He had four steals and three assists. Adarius Avery overcame a slow start, marking up 15 points. He crashed the boards on both ends, getting a season high of 15 rebounds.

Johnson had 12 points and Clark added nine. 

The Bronchos are back in action on Saturday, Jan. 5 in Hamilton Field House as they take on second-ranked Northwest Missouri at 3:30 p.m.
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