Basketball Men Get Past Central Oklahoma

After weathering a disappointing loss at East Central this week, the USAO men’s basketball team was determined to finish against Division II Central Oklahoma. The Drovers responded with an 83-74 win over the Bronchos.

With the nine-point win, USAO improves to 1-1 on the young season. This Monday, the Drovers travel to Weatherford for a 7 p.m. game against Southwestern Oklahoma State. The Bulldogs return the favor on Nov. 22 when they visit USAO Fieldhouse for a 7:30 p.m. contest. Over Thanksgiving weekend, the Drovers are scheduled to compete in the Harding, Ark., Classic.

On Thursday night, USAO jumped out to an early 15-9 lead in the first seven minutes, but Central Oklahoma responded to take a slim 28-27 lead with 6:33 left in the first half. From there, the lead changed six times before USAO took a 44-43 lead into halftime.

The second half turned out to be as close, but the Drovers never trailed and maintained a six to 10-point lead most of the way. With just three minutes gone in the second half, Central Oklahoma came as close as 48-47, and never got as close as four points the rest of the game.

Five Drovers finished in double figures, led by sophomore Avery Stevenson’s 22 points on 8-of-10 shooting. Senior Wayne Gibson was just behind with 18 points and five rebounds. Junior Wayne Walls scored 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting to go along with five boards.

Seniors Tony Jimmerson and Keith Miller added 12 points each, while Jimmerson grabbed five rebounds and Miller dished out a game-high seven assists. Junior Romeil Perkins and scored three pints and freshman Tyree Hankerson added a free throw to round out the Drovers’ scoring.

As a team, USAO hit 54 percent (27-of-50) from the field, 53 percent (9-of-17) from 3-point range and 71 percent (20-of-28) from the three throw line. The Drovers collected 38 rebounds, 19 assists, five steals and committed 19 turnovers.

Joe Kennerly and B.J. Raney led UCO with 18 points each, and Kennerly grabbed a team-high eight rebounds. Sam Belt was the only other Broncho in double figures with 12 points. UCO only managed 43 percent from the free throw line.