January 26, 2022-In a game that saw six ties and nine lead changes, #9 Central Oklahoma had the final run as they defeated Emporia State 88-83 on Wednesday night in White Auditorium.
The two teams traded scores for the first five minutes of action and were tied at 14 with 14:53 left in the half. UCO then went on an 11-2 run to take their biggest lead of the game at 25-16 with 12:26 remaining. They led by seven at the under ten minute media timeout when the Hornets went on an 18-4 run in under five minutes.
Kaden Evans started the run with a deep three-pointer at the 9:41 mark followed.
Brenden Van Dyke got a steal on the next possession and ran the floor to get a dunk from Evans with 9:10 left before getting another steal that led to a
Mayuom Buom hook in the paint that tied the game at 27 with 8:29 left.
Jumah'Ri Turner hit a three-pointer to give Emporia State a 32-29 lead with 6:11 left and Evans buried his third three-pointer of the half to give the Hornets a 38-31 lead with 4:46 left in the half.
UCO came back and got within two points at 40-38 with 2:24 remaining when Turner scored the next five points to give Emporia State a 45-38 lead with 43 seconds left. Camryn Givens finished the first half scoring with a three-pointer for the Bronchos as the Hornets took a 45-41 lead to the locker rooms.
Buom scored inside to open the second half and
Tray Buchanan converted an old fashioned three-point play to push the Hornet lead to 50-41 just 2:03 into the second half. Buchanan hit one of two free throws following a technical on UCO coach Bob Hoffman with 15:09 left to push the lead to double digits at 57-47 with 15:09 left. The free throw was Buchanan's eighth point in a span of 2:50 on the clock. Evans found Buchanan in the paint following a steal to make it 66-56 with 11:47 remaining.
ESU would go scoreless over the next 3:23 as UCO went on a 7-0 run to get within 66-63. Turner broke the run with a pull up three-pointer on the fast break with 8:24 left. Isaiah Wade scored the next seven points for the Bronchos as they took a 70-69 lead with 5:59 remaining. After a pair of free throws from Buchanan at the 5:43 mark gave the Hornets a 71-70 lead, the Bronchos went on a 6-0 run to take a 76-71 lead with 3:44 left.
Callen Haydon made two free throws with 21.6 seconds left to give UCO an 84-78 lead. Evans took the inbounds and went the length of the floor to score with 15.4 seconds left. Haydon tripped and lost the ball out of bounds to give it back to the Hornets with 11.2 seconds left. Buchanan quickly hit a pull up three-pointer with 7.9 seconds left to make it 84-83. Evans fouled Jaden Wells with 6.7 seconds left and he hit both free throws to give the Bronchos an 86-83 lead. The Bronchos called timeout out which allowed Emporia State to set up a play. ESU got the ball inbounds to Van Dyke at midcourt who turned and found Buchanan on the wing for a potential game tying three-pointer that bounced off the front of the rim. Van Dyke fouled Wells with 0.8 seconds left and he hit the two free throws for the final margin of 88-83.
Tray Buchanan led four Hornets in double figures with 32 points, the sixth 30 point outing of the season for the nation's leading scorer.
Jumah'Ri Turner scored 17 points,
Mayuom Buom had 12and
Kaden Evans added 11 points, eight rebounds, eight assists and five steals.
The Hornets will be back in action on Sunday, January 30 when they play host to Newman. Tip-off from WL White Auditorium is set for 1:00 p.m.
