Skip To Main Content

University of Central Oklahoma Athletics

The Official Site of Central Oklahoma University Athletics Central Oklahoma Athletics
Josh Nwankwo
75
Winner Central Okla. CentOK 1-0,0-0 Mid-America Intercollegiate
60
Simon Fraser SF 0-1,0-0 Great Northwest
Winner
Central Okla. CentOK
1-0,0-0 Mid-America Intercollegiate
75
Final
60
Simon Fraser SF
0-1,0-0 Great Northwest
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Central Okla. CentOK 32 43 75
Simon Fraser SF 18 42 60

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | Chris Brannick

Central Wins Opener In Canada

UCO Beats Simon Fraser 75-60 In D2CCA Canadian Tipoff Classic

LANGLEY, British Columbia – Central Oklahoma got the 2025-26 season started Friday night with a 75-60 win against Simon Fraser in the D2CAA Canadian Tipoff Classic.
 
Josh Nwankwo scored 28 points in a stat-filled game to lead the Bronchos in his UCO debut. Matthew Willenborg scored 12 and Marcus Zeigler Jr. added 10 his Bronze & Blue debut.
 
UCO (1-0) plays No. 18 Central Washington (1-0) Saturday at 3:30 p.m. Pacific, 5:30 p.m. Central.
 
"That was a good start," UCO head men's basketball coach Bob Hoffman said. "We didn't shoot the ball well but we did a lot of other things right. Josh was really good and Matt and that was a good team win."
 
Nwankwo, an Oklahoma native and Central Missouri transfer, scored 28 points on 11 of 17 shooting. He made 6 of 9 free-throws. Nwankwo added 10 rebounds, seven assists, five steals and three blocked shots.
 
Willenborg, who led the MIAA in blocked shots last year, had five in his 2025-26 opener. The junior from Norman was 6-for-11 shooting and had four rebounds on the night.
 
Zeigler Jr. scored 10 points on 4 of 9 shooting to go with eight rebounds, four assists, and two steals.
 
Central Oklahoma took an early 8-3 lead and though the game stayed that way for nearly five minutes, UCO controlled the first half and led throughout. The Bronchos scored 10 in a row to make it 18-6 with 8:59 to play. Central had a 10-3 run that made it 30-14 and led 32-18 going into halftime.
 
The second half was similar. After a 5-4 start in favor of SFU, the Bronchos went on a 9-0 run to continue pulling away from the Red Leafs of Canada.
 
Central Oklahoma never trailed and held its largest lead, 66-44, with seven minutes to play in the second half.
 
Jacobi Sebock added eight points and seven rebounds for the Bronchos. Parker Hannah and Ben Averitt scored four each. Freshmen Carter Roman Nose and Brady Hancuff scored two each.
 
Central Oklahoma shot 51.7 percent from the floor, hitting 30 of 58 shots. UCO was just 2-for-19 from behind the arc and went 13-for-24 from the free-throw line.
 
UCO plays Central Washington at 3:30 p.m. local time, 5:30 p.m. Central, on Saturday. The Bronchos wrap up the D2CCA Canadian Tipoff Classic Sunday against Western Washington at 1:45 p.m. Central.
 
Print Friendly Version
Skip Ad
Skip Sponsors