Skip To Main Content

University of Central Oklahoma Athletics

The Official Site of Central Oklahoma University Athletics Central Oklahoma Athletics
Josh Gibbs

Late Rally Fells Bronchos

Josh Gibbs
Box Score

EDMOND (Dec. 19) – Central Missouri used a game-ending 8-1 run to hand Central Oklahoma a stunning 72-70 Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association setback Thursday night at Hamilton Field House.
 
The Bronchos had a five-point lead at 69-64 following a Philip Brown layup with 2:58 remaining, but UCO made just one free throw and missed its last five shots from the field the rest of the way as the Mules rallied to claim the big road win.
 
"We had a lot of opportunities," head coach Terry Evans said.  "It's a tough loss, but our kids fought hard.  We've got a really young team and it showed down the stretch.  We didn't have very many turnovers all night, but we had some in the last minute or two that pretty much gave them the game."
 
The loss ended UCO's 10-game home winning streak and dropped the Bronchos to 7-3 on the season and 1-2 in league play.  UCM improved to 10-1 and 2-0.
 
The Bronchos looked in good shape after Brown's layup on an offensive put-back, but the Mules hit a 3-pointer at 2:09 to trim the deficit to 69-67.  The two teams traded misses before UCM converted a steal into a fast-break dunk that tied it at 69-all with 1:14 remaining.
 
Josh Gibbs hit one of two foul shots with 57 seconds left to give UCO a 70-69 lead and the Mules answered with a layup at 0:39 to go up 71-70.  The Bronchos had two chances at regaining the lead in the final seconds, but Seth Heckart's 3-pointer from the top of the key at 0:04 was off the mark and Gibbs' tip-in failed to fall.
 
Central Missouri made one of two free throws with 1.2 seconds left to make it 72-70 and Gibbs' 60-foot one-handed heave at the buzzer bounced off the rim.
 
Gibbs led the Bronchos with 27 points and 10 rebounds for his 10th consecutive double-double as the senior standout hit 8-of-13 shots with four 3-pointers.  Heckart also made four treys in a 14-point, six-assist outing, while Aaron Anderson had nine points, five rebounds and five assists.
 
UCO had just nine turnovers in the game, but the Mules held a huge 34-7 advantage in bench scoring.
 
Central Missouri led by as many as six (23-17) in the first half before Gibbs nailed back-to-back 3-pointers to spark an 11-2 run that put UCO in front and the Bronchos went on to take a 35-31 halftime advantage.
 
The Mules led 46-44 six minutes into the second half when UCO again used its long-range accuracy to surge ahead.  Gibbs, Cal Andrews and Heckart made 3-pointers on consecutive possessions and the Bronchos went on to take a 10-point lead at 63-53 on another Heckart trey with 7:58 left.
 
But back came UCM and the Mules prevailed in the end.
Print Friendly Version

Related Videos

Now Playing:

Related Stories

Skip Ad
Skip Sponsors