Late Surge Downs Drovers

OKLAHOMA CITY – Roles completely reversed in Thursday night’s game at Oklahoma City’s Abe Lemons Arena. The University of Science and Arts dominated the first 20 minutes, but No. 6 OCU controlled the second half and collected an 81-67 win.

With 15 points from Avery Stevenson and 11 from J.J. Walsh in the first half, USAO jumped on the Sooner Athletic Conference’s top team taking a 42-35 lead into the locker room. The Drovers connected on 60 percent from the floor and 5-of-8 from three.

The USAO lead could have been much larger if the home team hadn’t been unconscious from outside. OCU’s first four buckets of the game were three-pointers, and the team had seven threes by halftime.

In the second half, OCU almost doubled its shooting percentage hitting 58.3 percent and five more three-pointers while USAO’s percentage fell to 30.4 percent.

That discrepancy caught up with the Drovers as a 10-point lead disappeared through the first five minutes of the second half. Ryan Godwin canned three-pointer with 15:01 to give OCU a 50-49 lead.

Ike Onwuchekwa and Marcus Hines hit back-to-back three-pointers, and a Walsh layup cut a seven-point deficit down to 61-60 with 8:59 to play. But the Stars answered with a Godwin jumper and a three-pointer by Trevor Meier for a 66-60 lead.

From that point, OCU outscored USAO 13-5 to collect its 20th win of the season. USAO dropped its second consecutive game despite 20-point performances from Hines and Stevenson.

USAO fell to 11-14 overall and 7-8 in the conference. The team will host Oklahoma Christian at 8 p.m. Saturday in the home finale.

 ###