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University of Central Oklahoma Athletics

The Official Site of Central Oklahoma University Athletics Central Oklahoma Athletics
Curtis Haywood
81
Newman Newman 6-12,2-10 Mid-America Intercollegiate
88
Winner Central Okla. CentOK 18-1,12-1 Mid-America Intercollegiate
Newman Newman
6-12,2-10 Mid-America Intercollegiate
81
Final
88
Central Okla. CentOK
18-1,12-1 Mid-America Intercollegiate
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Newman Newman 32 49 81
Central Okla. CentOK 31 57 88

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | Chris Brannick

No. 4 Central Oklahoma Fends Off Newman

EDMOND – No. 4 Central fought off a pesky Newman bunch Saturday afternoon and picked up an 88-81 MIAA victory to push the Broncho win streak to 11 games.
 
UCO improved to 18-1 on the season with the win and the first-place Bronchos are now 12-1 in the MIAA. Newman is 6-12 overall and 2-10 in league play.
 
"They gave us everything they had," UCO head men's basketball coach Bob Hoffman said. "We didn't play very well at all in the first half and the guys did a great job of adjusting and getting focused and getting the job done."
 
UCO, which is has played without senior All-MIAA point guard Callen Haydon since the first of December, was without the MIAA's leading scorer Jaden Wells on Saturday. The first half indicated the lack of 30 points per game.
 
UCO shot just 40.7 percent in the first 20 minutes, making 11 of 27 shots. The Bronchos were 3-for-8 from behind the 3-point line and added six free-throws on seven attempts.
 
Newman shot only 34.3 percent in the first half and hit five 3-pointers to go with three free-throws.
 
The halftime score – Newman 32, UCO 31.
 
But the Bronchos responded with a big second half and led by as many as 10 points down the stretch before securing the victory.
 
Free-throws were key for the Bronchos in the second half. UCO went 6-for-7 in the first half. The Bronchos went 36-for-41 from the line in the second half.
 
UCO also improved its field-goal percentage with a 52.6 percent mark in the second half, making 10 of 19 shots. The Bronchos did only make one more 3-pointer in the second half for a total of four in the game, but the free-throws led the way.
 
Curtis Haywood scored 24 points to lead the Bronchos and he scored every one of those in the second half. He went 16-for-17 from the free-throw line – the 16 makes registering seventh on UCO's single game list.
 
Haywood went 4-for-9 from the floor. He also had five assists, four rebounds and one steal. He was 0-for-3 in the first half and didn't attempt a free-throw in the first 20 minutes.
 
Camryn Givens added 19 points and he went 11-for-12 from the free-throw line. Givens led the Bronchos with eight in the first half and was only 2-for-2 from the free-throw line in the first 20 minutes. Givens added six rebounds and two assists.
 
Danquez Dawsey scored a career-high 13 points, aided by an 8-for-10 mark at the free-throw line. He also had two rebounds, two steals and two assists.
 
Luke Haasl was the fourth Broncho in double figures and did it off the bench. He went 5-for-8 from the floor and 2-for-4 from the free-throw line. He scored 12 points to go with 11 rebounds and two blocked shots.
 
Preston Aymond (nine points, seven rebounds), Jalyn Turner (five points), Mike Quick Jr. (four points), and Tre'Veon Ellis (two points) rounded out the scoring for the Bronchos.
 
UCO jumped out to an early lead after Givens hit two 3-pointers in the first 80 seconds of the game. The Bronchos built a 17-7 lead with 12:51 to play in the first half when Quick Jr. scored his first basket of the game.
 
Newman refused to go away though. The Jets whittled the lead down bit-by-bit and eventually tied it up, 29-29, with just over one minute left in the first half. Newman then took a 32-29 lead with 35 seconds left and went to the halftime locker room up 32-31.
 
Saturday marked the fifth time this season UCO went to halftime behind on the scoreboard. It would be the fourth time the Bronchos came back to win.
 
But it wouldn't be easy.
 
UCO tied the game four times in the first seven-plus minutes in the second half. It wasn't until the last tie that Givens sank both of his free-throws to give the Bronchos a 49-48 lead with 12:34 to play.
 
Newman went right back in front before the game was tied again, 50-50.
 
But then a pair of Haywood free-throws with 11:28 to play gave UCO a 52-50 lead. The Bronchos never trailed again.
 
UCO scored by free-throw on 11 straight points and led 56-52 with 9:58 to play. Then the Bronchos scored by free-throw on 17 straight points to end the game.
 
UCO's last field goal came when Haasl slammed home his second dunk in as many possessions. He gave the Bronchos a 71-65 lead at the time. Central made 17 of 18 free-throws in the final five minutes to secure the victory.
 
The victory was the 11th in a row for the Bronchos, which is the eighth-longest in school history. UCO had a 13-game win streak last season. The school record is 16 games during the 2009-10 season.
 
Central Oklahoma will hit the road next weekend for a pair of MIAA games. The Bronchos play at Pittsburg State Thursday, Jan. 26 and then go to Missouri Southern – which is the only team to best the Bronchos this season – on Saturday, Jan. 28.
 
UCO returns home for a pair of MIAA games the first weekend of February.
 
 
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