Box Score
EDMOND (Jan. 8) – A trio of reserves gave Central Oklahoma a huge spark off the bench and the No. 4-ranked Bronchos put the defensive clamps on high-scoring Abilene Christian en route to a 76-58 romp Thursday at Hamilton Field House.
Blake Livingston, DeAngelo Garrett and Keith Marks combined to hit 14-of-18 shots and score 33 points for UCO, which held the Wildcats nearly 30 points under their Lone Star Conference-leading 87.9 scoring average in winning its 20th consecutive home game.
The game went back-and-forth in a lethargic first half before the Bronchos grabbed a 31-24 lead at intermission and UCO used a pair of second-half scoring runs to turn back a couple of ACU rallies before pulling away down the stretch.
“We got great production from our bench and that's what we're going to need to have,” UCO coach Terry Evans said. “Blake, DeAngelo and Keith came in and did what we need them to do and they gave us a big lift. We did a good job defensively and made them work for everything they got.”
The Bronchos improved to 12-2 on the year while dropping ACU to 6-6. UCO will be back in action Saturday, hosting Angelo State at 4 p.m.
Eric Cazenave led five double-figure scorers for the Bronchos with 14 points, while Livingston hit all five of his shots – including a pair of rim-rattling dunks – and a pair of free throws in a season-high 12-point outing.
Garrett was 5-of-8 from the field with his first 3-pointer of the year in tying a season high with 11 points in addition to having four rebounds and three blocked shots. Marks made 4-of-5 shots with a trey in scoring a season-high 10 points and added seven boards.
UCO also got 11 points from Michael Sosanya, while David Thomas and Lance Harper had 10 rebounds apiece.
The Bronchos shot just 40.5 percent (30-of-74) from the field, including a mere 19.0 percent (4-of-21) from 3-point range, but they committed only 10 turnovers.
There were 10 lead changes in the opening 20 minutes and UCO trailed 24-23 before ending the half with an 8-0 run to take the lead for good.
Cazenave started that spurt with two free throws to put the Bronchos ahead to stay and Livingston did the rest, scoring the final six points of the half.
The 6-foot-8 junior forward followed an ACU turnover with a tomahawk slam off an Adam Terneus alley-oop and made two free throws a minute later before picking off an errant pass and going in for a breakaway dunk that made it 31-24 at the break.
UCO went up by nine (33-24) on Thomas' layup to open the second half, but the Wildcats rallied to get within one at 34-33 with 16:09 left to play.
The Bronchos answered back with 10 straight points, getting a Livingston layup to start it and a Garrett layup to end it in taking a 44-33 lead at the 13:49 mark. It was a 13-point cushion at 48-35 a minute later after a Harper bucket, but ACU was within striking range at 59-51 in the final six minutes before UCO put it away.
It was another 10-0 run that clinched the win, with Terneus and Garrett hitting 3-pointers as the Bronchos pushed the advantage to 69-51 with 3:37 left before coasting in from there.
