Bronchos Upset By A&M-C

2/14/2011 11:13:47 PM

Shane Carroll

Box Score

COMMERCE, Texas (Feb. 14) -- Central Oklahoma's 11-game winning streak came to a stunning end here Monday night as the No. 8-ranked Bronchos fell behind early and never recovered in dropping a 91-79 decision to Texas A&M-Commerce.

UCO, which beat the Lions 85-69 in Edmond 25 days ago, lost for the first time since Dec. 18 in falling to 21-3 on the year and 7-1 in Lone Star Conference North Division play. A&M-C improved to 16-6 and 6-2.

The Bronchos led only briefly early in the contest, trailed by 18 points at halftime and suffered through their second-worst shooting game of the season. UCO shot only 36.9 percent (24-of-65) from the field and was just 21-of-35 (60.0 percent) from the free throw line.

The Lions, meanwhile, hit a sizzling 56.3 percent (27-of-48) of their field goal attempts and also dominating on the boards in outrebounding the Bronchos 46-31.

“Commerce has a good team and they're tough to beat at home,” UCO coach Terry Evans said. “We never seemed to get going offensively and gave up too many easy baskets. It's disappointing, but we just have to put it behind us and move on.”

Brent Friday gave the Bronchos a 2-0 lead with a layup just six seconds into the game and Jarrod McDaniel's layup a minute later had the Bronchos on top 4-2, but A&M-C scored the next five points and never trailed again.

The Lions went on to take a big 43-25 lead at the break and pushed that to a 27-point bulge (61-34) with 14:03 remaining before UCO tried to rally.

Shane Carroll's rare four-point play capped a 13-2 run that pulled the Bronchos within 16 (63-47) at the 10:48 mark and UCO managed to make it an eight-point game at 76-68 on a Carl Curry free throw with 3:17 left to play.

But the Bronchos could get no closer and A&M-C iced the game at the free throw line to end UCO's nine-game LSC North winning streak that dated back to last season.

Dauntae Williams made six 3-pointers and scored a game-high 25 points to lead the Bronchos, though he was limited in the first half by foul trouble. Carroll ended up with 13 points and Victor Driver added 10.

UCO is off until going to Ada Saturday to face East Central at 4 p.m.

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