by By Chris Brannick
JOPLIN, Mo. – Central Oklahoma beat Missouri Southern 73-63 Thursday night to improve to 8-0 for the first time in program history. The third-ranked Bronchos are also 3-0 in the MIAA after the win.
“We were fortunate so many different guys made plays today,” UCO head men’s basketball coach Bob Hoffman said. “There are a lot of things we can clean up and get better at, but they are good basketball players and they made good plays tonight.”
Jaden Wells led Central Oklahoma with 29 points, tying a season high. The junior guard was 11-for-21 from the floor and 3-for-11 from behind the 3-point line. Wells also went 4-for-5 from the free-throw line. He added five steals on the defensive end to spark a tremendous effort for the Bronchos on that end of the floor.
UCO forced 26 turnovers on Thursday night, a season high for the Bronchos. Wells led the way with five steals. Danquez Dawsey added four steals.
Dawsey, who leads the country averaging 7.0 assists per game, scored 14 points tonight, pulled down five rebounds to go with the four steals. He finished with five assists to lead the offense for the Bronchos.
Central shot 46.7 percent from the floor and hit eight 3-pointers, going 8-for-23. UCO also went 9-for-12 from the free-throw line.
Luke Haasl also scored in double figures with 11 points and he led the defensive inside the paint. Haasl got his first block on the first possession of the game and finished with five, including two on one play late in the game to seal the win.
There were three lead changes in the game on Thursday night and all came in the first 10 minutes. Missouri Southern led 14-12 with 10:30 to play in the first half. The Bronchos promptly followed with a 10-2 run and never gave up from there. The game got to two points on two more occasions before halftime, but a Wells 3-pointer at the buzzer gave UCO a 31-25 lead going to the break.
Central opened the second half on a 14-4 run. The Bronchos led by as many as 18 points with 3:24 to play, holding a 68-50 advantage. Southern made a late rally to make it interesting before the Bronchos finished off the win.
