OCU Rallies Past Drovers

CHICKASHA – The largest lead of the night belonged to the Drovers, but the last lead belonged to undefeated and second-ranked Oklahoma City as the University of Science and Arts’ valiant upset bid fell short Saturday night with an 84-76 loss.

Thomas Woods tied a career-high with 25 points on a blistering 12-of-17 shooting from the floor, and Avery Stevenson added 21 points and four assists to lead the Drovers to a quick 17-7 lead. USAO missed a big opportunity right before halftime to make the lead double-figures, but an OCU steal and layup made the USAO lead only 40-33 at the break.

OCU put together a 17-5 run early in the second half to erase USAO’s 12-point lead. The Stars connected on over 62 percent from the field in the second half including 6-for-11 on 3-pointers. After hitting 5-of-8 3-pointers in the first half, USAO’s shooting cooled off in the second half.

The Drovers posted its best shooting performance of the season hitting 49.1 percent, but OCU’s 11 3-pointers and 21-of-33 from the free-throw line was too much to over come. While Woods carried the scoring load in the second half with 15 points, Stevenson struggled with only four points in the final frame. Delane Finley added 10 points for his 16th career double-figure game.

USAO fell to 5-16 overall and 5-9 in the SAC. This weekend, the Drovers host sixth-place Lubbock Christian at 8 p.m. Thursday and ninth-place Wayland Baptist at 3 p.m. Saturday.

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