Box Score

EDMOND (Jan. 10) – Lance Harper scored 18 of his team-high 24 points in the second half and No. 4-ranked Central Oklahoma hit some big free throws down the stretch to stave off Angelo State's late 3-point barrage in an exciting 96-92 triumph Saturday at Hamilton Field House.

It was the 21st straight home win for the Bronchos, who overcame a six-point second-half deficit in improving to 13-2 on the season in their final Lone Star Conference crossover game. The Rams had a four-game winning streak snapped in falling to 12-3.

Harper hit 8-of-13 shots and 8-of-9 free throws in his 24-point outing and he added 10 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season. Eric Cazenave had 18 points while making 7-of-12 shots with two 3-pointers, while Michael Sosanya had 17 points and David Thomas 14.

“We made some big plays in the second half and came through with a great win,” UCO coach Terry Evans said. “Angelo has a good team and it was a battle, but our guys played hard and found a way to get the job done.”

UCO used an 11-2 run to break away from a 68-68 tie and grab a 77-68 lead with 6:20 left to play and the Bronchos were up 10 (87-77) after two Thomas free throws at the 2:33 mark.

It was still a seven-point cushion at 90-83 following a Cazenave layup with just 1:26 left to play, but the Rams hit three long-range bombs the rest of the way to make it interesting.

Cazenave followed a Johnny Barnes 3-pointer with two free throws at 0:58 to keep UCO in front by six (92-86) and Thomas made one of two foul shots at 0:31 after a Lionel Brown trey to make it 93-89.

ASU drained another rainbow eight seconds later to pull within one, but Adam Terneus made two pressure-packed free throws at 0:20 to give UCO a 95-92 advantage and Thomas was fouled rebounding a Ram miss with three seconds left.

The senior guard then made one of two free throws to push the lead to four and seal the win.

Sosanya led the way in the early going as the Bronchos jumped out to an quick lead, with UCO surging ahead 25-12 midway through the half.  The Rams came back quickly with a 16-2 run to take a 28-27 lead en route to a 51-48 halftime lead.

ASU was up 56-50 early in the second half, but the Bronchos tied it at 62 and again at 68 before Harper made two free throws to ignite UCO's late 11-2 spurt, with Cazenave hitting a 3-pointer and a breakaway dunk off a steal in that run.

The Bronchos open defense of their LSC North Division title Wednesday, hosting Texas A&M-Commerce at 8 p.m.