Game Statistics
COMMERCE, Texas (Jan. 27) – Shane Carroll and Dauntae Williams combined for 37 second-half points and fueled a 3-point shooting barrage that carried streaking Central Oklahoma past Texas A&M-Commerce 103-91 here Wednesday night in a crucial Lone Star Conference North Division showdown.
The Bronchos made 11 long-range shots in the second half to overcome an eight-point deficit, with Carroll hitting five in scoring 15 of his 21 points and Williams three in racking up 22 of his career-high 37 points.
It was the 12th straight victory for UCO, which matches the third-longest winning streak in school history. The Bronchos won 14 in a row during the 1963-64 season and have had a pair of 13-game streaks, the last coming in 1997-98.
UCO, which improved to 16-4 overall and 5-0 in the league, returns home to host arch-rival Northeastern State at 8 p.m. Saturday in another key LSC North contest. A&M-C fell to 14-6 and 4-1.
“It was a really good win for us,” UCO coach Terry Evans said. “We struggled some there for awhile and Commerce had a lot of momentum, but we never panicked and did a great job of bouncing back.”
The Bronchos had another stellar shooting effort, finishing at 54.2 percent (39-of-72) overall and 48.5 percent (16-of-33) from beyond the arc. UCO was 11-of-20 (55.0 percent) from 3-point range in the final 20 minutes.
Williams went 15-of-25 from the field with four treys in his 37-point outing and he flirted with a triple-double in adding nine rebounds and eight assists. Carroll was virtually unstoppable from outside, hitting 7-of-8 3-point tries in finishing with 21 points.
The Bronchos also got 12 points and nine assists from Eric Cazenave and 10 points and nine rebounds from Chris Rhymes.
A&M-C ended the half with a 15-3 run to take a 46-45 lead at the break and the Lions then scored the first six points of the second half to extend that to 52-45. It was an eight-point margin at 66-58 with 13:40 left to play when UCO started to heat up.
Jumpers by Keith Marks and Rhymes sandwiched 3-pointers by Carroll and Williams in a 10-2 run that pulled the Bronchos even at 68-all with 10:46 remaining and UCO went ahead to stay at the 9:02 mark on a Cazenave layup.
The Bronchos broke the game open moments later behind a 3-point frenzy, making six treys – two each by Cazenave, Carroll and Williams – in a three-minute, 30-second span that helped turn a precarious 77-75 lead into a big 97-83 cushion with 3:19 left.
A&M-C only got as close as the final 12-point margin the rest of the way.
