Basketball Men Fall to Southwestern

A barrage of 3-pointers to open the second half kept the USAO men’s basketball team in Monday’s game against Southwestern Oklahoma State. But, the Drovers cooled off down the stretch and lost 86-73 to the Bulldogs in their final non-conference home game of the season.

With the 13-point loss, USAO drops to 1-3 overall. This weekend, the Drovers travel to Searcy, Ark., to compete in the Pepsi/The Morning Sun Classic. On Friday, USAO is scheduled to face Lyon, Ark., at 6 p.m., followed by a 6 p.m. matchup Saturday with the host-team, Harding Bison.

 Southwestern scored the first four points of the game, but USAO came back and took its only lead of the game, 5-4, with about three minutes gone. For about the next 10 minutes, the Bulldogs maintained a five to eight-point lead before leading 45-32 at halftime. USAO senior Wayne Gibson kept the Drovers within striking distance by going 11-of-11 from the free throw line.

The Drovers opened the second half with four straight 3-point baskets – three of them by sophomore Avery Stevenson – to cut the Bulldogs’ lead to three points. But, USAO couldn’t sustain the rally and fell behind by as many as 10 points in the final five minutes. Southwestern maintained a double-digit lead over the last three minutes to win comfortably 86-73.

Gibson led all scorers with 30 points on 6-of-11 from the field, 4-of-6 from 3-point range and 14-of-16 from the free throw line. Gibson also grabbed a game-high nine rebounds. Sophomore Stevenson was the only other Drover in double figures with 15 points and a team-high five assists.

Senior Tony Jimmerson finished with eight points, while senior Keith Miller and freshman Tyree Hankerson added seven points each. Miller also dished out three assists.

For the game, USAO hit 43 percent (22-of-51) from the field, 53 percent (8-of-15) from 3-point range and a season-best 84 percent (21-of-25) from the free throw line. The Drovers collected 24 rebounds, 13 assists, five steals and committed 15 turnovers.

Ike Smith paced Southwestern with 19 points and six rebounds. Others in double figures included Lee Jay Kirkpatrick and Jamaal Shell with 14 points and Lonnie Cooks with 11.