Box Score
SAN ANTONIO, Texas (Dec. 20) – A five-minute scoring surge midway through the second half turned the game in Central Oklahoma's favor and carried the No. 5-ranked Bronchos past No. 16 Ouachita Baptist here Saturday on the first day of the River City Classic.
Michael Sosanya, Lance Harper and David Thomas combined for all 19 points in a 19-2 run that lifted UCO from a 48-43 deficit to a 62-50 lead and the Bronchos went on to a 79-71 victory over the Tigers in a showdown of top NCAA Division II teams.
It was the third straight win for UCO, which improved to 10-1 while dropping OBU to 9-2. The Bronchos return to action at 12:45 p.m. Sunday against Arkansas Tech on the final day of the classic, hosted by St. Mary's.
“It was a tough, physical game and our defense did the job for us in the second half,” UCO coach Terry Evans said. “Our three veterans really took over during a big stretch of the game and we came out with a good win over a quality team.”
The Bronchos were outrebounded 43-31, but limited OBU to just 25.8 percent (8-of-31) shooting from the field in the second half and had just 10 turnovers in the rugged contest that featured 57 fouls and 66 free throws.
Harper scored a game-high 20 points to lead the way, while Sosanya finished with 15 as the only two players in double figures. The Bronchos shot a season-high 50.0 percent (27-of-54) from the field.
UCO trailed 38-33 at halftime and was still down five at 48-43 with 11:42 left when Harper converted a layup in traffic to ignite the game-deciding run. Another Harper layup put the Bronchos on top to stay at 49-48 and Sosanya hit two free throws at the 9:23 mark to make it 52-48.
The Tigers got a pair of foul shots to pull within 52-20, but UCO completed the spurt with 10 straight points in taking a 62-50 lead with 6:22 remaining on Thomas' fast-break layup.
Sosanya had seven points in the 19-2 run, while Harper had six points, two rebounds and a blocked shot and Thomas six points, two rebounds, two steals and two assists.
The Bronchos pushed the lead to 20 at 79-59 on two Eric Cazenave free throws with 1:59 left before OBU scored the final 12 points of the game to arrange the final score.
UCO fell behind 4-0 a minute into the contest, but the Bronchos came back with six unanswered points to go ahead 6-4 en route to taking a six-point lead (17-11) at the 10:48 mark on two Harper free throws.
The Tigers went on a 6-0 run to tie it at 17-all and surged ahead by six at 26-20 with 5:28 left in the half before going on to take a 38-33 halftime lead.
