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University of Central Oklahoma Athletics

The Official Site of Central Oklahoma University Athletics Central Oklahoma Athletics
Jaden Wells
63
Southwestern Christ. SWC 0-3
73
Winner Central Okla. CentOK 11-1,5-1 Mid-America Intercollegiate
Southwestern Christ. SWC
0-3
63
Final
73
Central Okla. CentOK
11-1,5-1 Mid-America Intercollegiate
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Southwestern Christ. SWC 31 32 63
Central Okla. CentOK 39 34 73

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | Chris Brannick

UCO Returns With Wire-to-Wire Win

EDMOND – No. 9 Central Oklahoma never trailed in a 73-63 victory over Southwestern Christian Wednesday night, making its return from the holiday break with the wire-to-wire victory.
 
UCO improved to 11-1 on the season with the win. Wednesday night's contest marked the final non-conference game of the season for the Bronchos, who will play 16 MIAA games over the next nine weeks as Central defends its league title. UCO is 5-1 in the MIAA on the season.
 
"We're happy with the result and it's good to get back from the break with a win," UCO head men's basketball coach Bob Hoffman said. "When you don't get to practice for a week, for seven days, it can be hard to come out of that sharp and ready to go. They did a good job tonight and Southwestern Christian is a good team. I think they're going to win a lot of games this season."
 
Neither team started particularly well Wednesday night. It took 2:38 for UCO to get on the scoreboard and that came when Camryn Givens knocked down a pair of free-throws. After a Danquez Dawsey fastbreak layup and a pair of free-throws by Jaden Wells made it 6-0, Southwestern Christian finally scored after five minutes of time had run off the clock.
 
But that's when Wells, one of the best shooters in the country and the leading scorer for the Bronchos, put on a quick show, going on a 12-2 run all on his own, and he did it in under 90 seconds.
 
Wells hit four consecutive 3-pointers in an 86-second stretch to give UCO an 18-5 lead. SCU managed a pair of free-throws in that span.
 
The Bronchos led by as many as 19 later in the first half, and while Southwestern Christian refused to go away without a fight in the second half, cutting the deficit to as little as eight points late in the game, UCO ultimately proved too much.
 
Wells finished the game as the high scorer for either team, putting up 25 points on 6 of 16 shooting. He went 4-for-8 from behind the 3-point line and hit 9 of 10 free-throws as well. Wednesday was the second time in as many games Wells has scored more than 20 and the fifth time this season.
 
He also had eight rebounds, two assists and one steal.
 
Curtis Haywood was one of several Bronchos that filled up the stat sheet on Wednesday night. The senior forward scored 11 points on 3 of 8 shooting, and went 5-for-5 from the free-throw line. He added a team-high nine rebounds, six steals, four blocks and three assists.
 
Jalyn Turner also had 11 points to give UCO three in double figures. He added a career-high seven assists.
 
Givens finished with eight points and seven rebounds while Luke Haasl scored eight points to go with six rebounds. Preston Aymond also had eight points and seven rebounds. Dawsey finished with the two points to round out the scoring for the Bronchos.
 
Central Oklahoma gets in conference mode this weekend. The Bronchos are hosting Washburn on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. for a New Year's Eve affair at Hamilton Field House. UCO is also scheduled to host No. 20 Emporia State on Monday, Jan. 2 at 7:30 p.m. for the first game of 2023.
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