Box Score

DURANT, Okla. (Feb. 14) – It wasn't a good Valentine's Day for Central Oklahoma here Saturday night as Southeastern Oklahoma handed the No. 13-ranked Bronchos their first Lone Star Conference North Division setback.

UCO fell behind 11-2 early in the contest and trailed by as many as 19 points in the second half before staging a late rally that fell short in an 87-76 defeat that ended a nine-game winning streak and tightened the LSC North race.

The Bronchos fell to 19-4 on the year and 9-1 in the North Division, just one game ahead of SOSU and Texas A&M-Commerce with four games left in the regular season.  UCO returns to league action Wednesday when it hosts Texas Woman's at 7 p.m.

“We got ourselves in a hole early and could never get out of it,” UCO coach Guy Hardaker said.  “We fought hard and did a great job of getting back in the game at the end, but it just wasn't enough.”

The Bronchos never led and were tied only once, at 2-2 in the opening minutes. SOSU then reeled off nine unanswered points to grab an 11-2 lead and went on to lead 37-25 at halftime.

Mallory Markus' 3-pointer early in the second half had UCO within 41-32, but the Savage Storm came back with a quick basket to regain a double-digit lead and went on to open up a pair of 19-point cushions, the final time at 67-48 with 9:44 left to play.

Courtney Allen scored five straight points to help ignite a UCO rally that pulled the Bronchos within 72-63 on Lizzie Brenner's 3-pointer with 4:46 remaining and the lead was cut to six at 74-68 when Ashley Beckley went inside for a layup at the 3:11 mark.

A Brenner layup at 2:43 kept UCO within six (76-70), but the Savage Storm kept the Bronchos at bay with a couple of key baskets and then sealed it at the line by making six straight free throws in the final 50 seconds.

Brenner led UCO with 18 points, while Beckley finished with 14 and Markus 11.