EDMOND —
Cal Andrews drained a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to give Central Oklahoma the halftime lead and the Bronchos continued their long-distance assault in the second half to run away from Emporia State 83-69 Wednesday night at Hamilton Field House.
It was the fourth straight Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association win for UCO, which evened its overall record at 11-11 while improving to 9-5 in the league to stay just a game behind Central Missouri and Fort Hays State in the crowded league standings.
Andrews’ trey from the corner started an impressive outside shooting display that saw the Bronchos make nine of its next 12 attempts from beyond the arc in blowing the game open.
The Bronchos shot a blistering 62.5 percent (10-of-16) from long range in the second half and ended up making 14-of-29 treys (48.3 percent) for the game. UCO shot 51.0 percent (25-of-49) overall and also committed just 10 turnovers.
“We’re playing with a lot of confidence right now and that showed in the way we shot the ball tonight,” head coach Terry Evans said. “The league’s pretty wide open and we’re playing as well as anyone.”
Josh Gibbs had his fourth straight 20-point outing and scored 15 of his game-high 21 points in the second half when he made 4-of-6 3-point tries, while Christian Huffman made his first five shots of the game en route to a season-high 16-point outing.
Andrews was 5-of-7 from long range in finishing with 15 points, while Spencer Smith had 14 points and a team-high eight rebounds and Jamell Cormier 13 points, seven rebounds and six assists.
UCO trailed only once, at 5-2 three minutes into the game. Andrews soon tied it with his first 3-pointer and the Bronchos led by as many as eight (28-20) before ESU rallied to pull even at 33-all with five seconds left in the half.
That’s when Andrews nailed his corner shot, taking a half-court pass from Cormier and swishing through the go-ahead basket as the horn sounded.
A short Huffman jumper and Cormier 3-pointer pushed UCO’s lead to eight (41-33) in the opening minute of the second half and the Bronchos started to pull away.
It was a nine-point advantage at 49-40 when Gibbs knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers from 25-plus feet and Smith followed with a trey from the wing in quick-strike 9-0 run that made it 58-40 at the 10:31 mark.
The Hornets whittled their deficit back to 12 (60-48) at 8:28, but two more treys by Gibbs and five points from Cormier sparked a 14-4 spurt that pushed the cushion to 22 (74-52) with 5:06 remaining.
UCO coasted in from there in reaching the .500 mark for the first time since the opening week of the season.
The Bronchos are off until going to Missouri Southern on Feb. 21.
UCO women fall to Emporia
Central Oklahoma stayed close most of the way, but could never get over the hump and Emporia State pulled away down the stretch for a 73-60 Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association victory Wednesday night at Hamilton Field House.
The Bronchos were within four at 60-56 with 6:10 left to play before ESU used its free throw accuracy to put the game away, hitting 9-of-10 foul shots down the stretch.
The Lady Hornets ended up hitting 20-of-21 free throws (95.2 percent) for the game in improving to 15-6 on the year and 10-3 in the MIAA. UCO fell to 9-13 and 2-12.
Alyssa Fuxa was 8-of-9 from the line in a 13-point outing while adding seven rebounds to pace the Bronchos. Britney Morgan had 12 points, with McKenzie Solberg and Whitney Dunn scoring 11 apiece off the bench.
Morgan’s 3-pointer 16 seconds into the game and two Fuxa free throws gave UCO a quick 5-0 lead, but the Lady Hornets answered with an 8-0 run to move in front 8-5.
A Dunn layup gave the Bronchos a 9-8 lead before ESU reeled off six unanswered points to regain the lead for good at 14-9. The Lady Hornets led by as many as 10 and took a 34-26 lead into intermission.
ESU pushed its advantage to 12 (58-46) with 8:12 left in the game before the Bronchos made their final rally.
Solberg hit a jumper and Fuxa followed with six straight points, hitting a 3-pointer from the top of the key and then converting a conventional three-point play to bring UCO within 58-54 at the 6:49 mark.
Fuxa followed an ESU bucket with two free throws at 6:10 to make it 60-56, but the Lady Hornets scored the next five points and UCO got no closer than eight the rest of the way.
The Bronchos are off until going to Missouri Southern Feb. 21.
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UCO men win 4th straight; Broncho women fall to Emporia
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Workman's blasts cranks UCO's engine; Bronchos cruise to 5-2 win
Nicole Workman’s solo home run gave Central Oklahoma a lead it would never relinquish and the No. 19-ranked Bronchos went on to topple Winona State 5-2 in the first game of the NCAA Division II Central Super Regional Friday night at the Edmond North High School Softball Complex.
Workman blasted her 14th homer of the season to lead off the second inning, with UCO adding three runs in the third and one more in the fifth to take a commanding 5-0 lead before the Warriors created some anxious moments in their final at bat.
WSU scored two runs and had runners on second and third on with just one out in the top of the seventh, but Kalynn Shrock got the final two batters to close out her fourth straight complete-game outing of the postseason and put the Bronchos in control of the best-of-three series. -
Richters rip competition at KickingBird
The KickingBird 2-man scramble was won by Jeff and Josh Richter, finishing with a 57.9 on May 11.
Jeff Jester and Kevin Wright wrapped up second-place honors with a 59.9 and Rick Morales and Ronnie Roberts placed third (60.1).
In the second flight, the top score was 60.4 by Jerry Bernhardt and Ted Carter. Picking up silver was the tandem of Jerry Fuller and Ramona Jacobi (61.2) and the third-place squad was Dyke Hoppe and Mark VanSickle at 62.0.
Morales was closest to the pin on No. 6 and Jeff Richter landed a dart on hole 14. -
Eagles' season finished; Lopez earns national honor
Southeastern, Fla. eliminated Oklahoma Christian 4-0 om the National Christian College Athletic Association World Series in Mason, Ohio today to advance to the tournament semifinals, while OC closes at 26-26.
OC would have advanced to the semifinals with a win, but completed a terrific turnaround from an 8-34 season in 2012. The Eagles made only the second national-tournament appearance in the program's history, with the other coming in 1972, when OC finished third in the NAIA World Series. -
Multiple baseball camps offered in Edmond
Edmond Schools baseball coaches Kyle Roberts (Edmond Memorial), Jeff Shafer (Edmond Santa Fe) and Karl King (Edmond North) will instruct the Edmond All-Star Baseball Camps starting May 28 at Edmond North High School.
A pair of all-skills camps will take place for kids ages 5 and older from May 28-31 and June 3-6. Times are the same, 9 a.m.-2 p.m.
On June 7, a pitcher/catcher camp will be offered for ages 8 and older with the identical time frame. Cost is $35 for the pitcher/catcher camp and $125 for the all-skills camp.
For further inquiries, contact Karl King at 863-3570. -
Arthur Hills eating up Bronchos
Central Oklahoma’s struggles continued at the NCAA Division II Women’s Golf Championships in Daytona Beach, Fla. Friday.
The Bronchos made 10 double bogeys and two triple bogeys en route to a season-high 329 score on the rugged 6,228-yard, par-72 Arthur Hills Legends Course at LPGA International, leaving UCO in 10th place with a three-round total of 975.
Nova Southeastern has an 881 total heading into Saturday’s final round, giving the four-time defending champion Sharks a one-shot lead over second-place Lynn. -
Bronchos will make 12th appearance in national golf championship Monday
No. 18-ranked Central Oklahoma will make its 12th appearance in the NCAA Division II Men’s Golf Championships in Hershey, Pa. next week.
The 54-hole stroke play portion of the tournament runs Monday-Wednesday at the 7,061-yard, par-71 Hershey Country Club East Course, with the top-eight teams from the 20-team field advancing to match play. -
Online registration for 2013 UCO Endeavor Games now open
Registration is now open online for athletes and volunteers for the 2013 University of Central Oklahoma Endeavor Games, June 6-9, the nation’s largest multi-sport event for athletes with physical disabilities.
Athletes of all ages or sporting experience are invited to register for the event. Community members are also encouraged to register to volunteer with more than 300 volunteer opportunities available.
Similar to the summer Paralympic Games, athletes may register for multiple adaptive sports, which include cycling, indoor archery, outdoor archery, powerlifting, sitting volleyball, shooting, table tennis, track and field, wheelchair basketball, and, for the first time at the UCO Endeavor Games, paratriathlon. The paratriathlon will be limited to athletes over the age of 16 with previous paratriathlon experience. -
Deer Creek drops Carl Albert again for state title
They did it again.
The Deer Creek girls soccer team knocked off rival Carl Albert in the Class 5A state soccer title game for the second consecutive season.
The Lady Antlers, led by freshman Lauren Haivala’s two goals, topped the Titans 2-1 May 10 at Noble High School.
On May 7, Deer Creek blanked Tulsa Edison 2-zip in the semifinals for a chance to play for its fourth state championship in girls soccer. -
UCO to host US women's sitting volleyball team's exhibition matches against Russia
The University of Central Oklahoma will host five exhibition matches of the U.S. Women’s Sitting Volleyball Team versus the Russian National Women Sitting Volleyball Team beginning tonight at 10. Matches continue on Saturday at 5 p.m. and 10 p.m. and a single match on Sunday at 9 a.m.
This will be the first time the Paralympic silver medaling Team USA has faced Russia since 2011. According to Head Coach Bill Hamiter, these matches will serve as preparation for the Sitting Volleyball World Championships in 2014.
Team USA will be available after each match to meet with fans and sign autographs.
All exhibition matches are free and open to the public. -
Impact-making Graves inks with OBU
When a basketball team goes 80-3 over the years a player was there, that athlete has made a profound impact on that particular program.
Not only did she/he leave a legacy athletically to have that type of success in Class 6A, but left a mark in a leadership capacity as well.
Cameerah Graves, Edmond Santa Fe’s standout guard who led 6A in assists her senior season with 129, signed a letter of intent with Oklahoma Baptist University last week. - More Sports Headlines
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