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University of Central Oklahoma Athletics

The Official Site of Central Oklahoma University Athletics Central Oklahoma Athletics
Jaden Wells
61
Emporia St. ESU 7-7,7-7 Mid-America Intercollegiate
73
Winner Central Okla. CentOK 4-5,4-5 Mid-America Intercollegiate
Emporia St. ESU
7-7,7-7 Mid-America Intercollegiate
61
Final
73
Central Okla. CentOK
4-5,4-5 Mid-America Intercollegiate
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Emporia St. ESU 28 33 61
Central Okla. CentOK 33 40 73

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | Chris Brannick

Another Double-Digit Win For The Bronchos

Jaden Wells Hits Five 3-Pointers To Lead UCO

EDMOND – The University of Central Oklahoma men's basketball team nearly led wire-to-wire in a 73-61 triumph over Emporia State Thursday night at Hamilton Field House.
 
Central Oklahoma improved to 4-5 with the win. It was the third win in four games since the calendar turned to 2021 and the second 12-point win over Emporia State in the last seven days.
 
"We did a good job in a lot of different areas tonight, I'm just really proud of our guys," UCO head men's basketball coach Bob Hoffman said. "We shot the ball very well tonight, one of our better games, we moved the ball, and we played good defense. Everyone chipped in tonight too from our bench, just everyone, it was a good game."
 
Central Oklahoma had four players score in double figures Thursday.
 
Jaden Wells, a true freshman from Dallas, Texas, led the Bronchos with 16 points. He hit a season-high five 3-pointers and added one free-throw. Wells was 5-for-11 from the field, 5-for-6 from behind the arc, and 1-for-2 at the line. He also had five rebounds and two steals.
 
Callen Haydon scored 13 points on 6 of 11 shooting and dished out a game-high seven assists. Isaiah Wade scored 12 points to go with a game-high nine rebounds. Camryn Givens, who scored 10 points, also had nine rebounds.
 
Emporia State led for the first two minutes of the game before Wells hit his first 3-pointer to give UCO a 5-4 lead. Givens made a layup and-1 to put the Bronchos up 8-4 moments later. But after Emporia made one free-throw with 16-plus minutes to play in the first half, Central went on a 9-0 run to take control early. Jalyn Turner hit a pair of 3-pointers before Wells hit his second of the night to put the Bronchos up 17-5 with just over 13 minutes left to play in the opening half.
 
Central didn't run away with things just yet. Haydon made a layup to give the Bronchos what would be their biggest lead of the game, 25-11, with 8:33 to go till halftime, then Emporia whittled away at the lead down the stretch and cut the deficit back to single digits. Central Oklahoma led 33-28 at halftime.
 
Emporia rallied out of the break and opened the second half on a 14-7 run over the first seven minutes of play. That gave ESU the lead once again, 42-40, with 12:58 to play in the game.
 
But it was Wells once again, knocking down yet another 3-pointer, to give the Bronchos a 43-42 lead with 12:01 to play. Central didn't trail again.
 
Wells would hit two more down the stretch. Haydon hit another three as well. And Central Oklahoma cruised down victory lane.
 
Shemar Smith added nine points off the bench for the Bronchos. The redshirt freshman hit one 3-pointer and had another big dunk to ignite the late push by UCO. Turner finished with six points on his two made 3-pointers. Davon Richardson added four, D.J. Basey two, and Justin Nimmer one, to round out the scoring by the Bronchos.
 
Central finished the night shooting 48.2 percent overall. The Bronchos made 27 of 56 shots Thursday night. UCO went 9-for-21 from 3-point land and 10-for-16 from the free-throw line.
 
UCO will wrap up a short two-game homestand Saturday when the Bronchos take on 13th-ranked Washburn at 3:30 p.m.
 
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