Millender Leads SWOSU Past UCO, 80-79

February 14, 2007

WEATHERFORD – This time Southwestern Oklahoma State University erased the memories of a pair of recent painful buzzer beating losses with one of their own. Marcus Millender scored on a driving layup while being fouled and connected on the following free throw to provide the winning points with eight seconds remaining in SWOSU’s dramatic 80-79 victory over visiting Central Oklahoma.

The Bronchos failed on pair of shots to win it, the last being John Neal’s three-footer at the buzzer. The horn sounded and the Bulldogs celebrated what had been an emotional victory that put them back square in the hunt for a post-season berth in the Lone Star Conference tournament.

The victory improved SWOSU to 16-7 and 4-5 in the LSC North while UCO dropped to 16-7 and 6-3 in league play. The Bulldogs now stand alone in fourth place after Cameron lost at home Wednesday to Northeastern State. The top four teams qualify for the LSC Postseason Tournament. SWOSU has three games remaining, two of which are on the road at Northeastern State University and Texas A&M-Commerce.

The lone home game that remains is against Cameron Monday night in Weatherford.

Millender’s dramatic basket capped a tense second half that saw seven ties and eight lead changes. UCO was setting comfortably most of the way and even had a five-point lead when Terry Tucker made one of two free throws to put the Bronchos ahead 79-74 with 30 seconds to play.

SWOSU closed it to 79-77 when Eric Payne drilled a three-pointer with 21 seconds remaining. UCO then turned it over on their next possession, one of 30 times the Bronchos coughed it up, thanks to the Bulldogs full-court pressure.

Millender, who tied for scoring honors with 14 points, then split two defenders and was fouled by a third while banking the shot off the glass.

Othello Alford had 14 points to share scoring honors, 12 of which came in a first half in which the Bulldogs generated very little buzz of their own. UCO led by as many as 15 points at 39-24 with 5:28 to play in the first half. The Bulldogs scrambled back and outscored UCO 14-6 the rest of the way. UCO led at the break 45-38.

SWOSU took its first lead of the second half when Alford got loose behind the defense and dunked to put the Bulldogs ahead 55-53 with 14:16 to play. The teams then traded leads most of the way thanks primarily to clutch shots hit by SWOSU’s Michael Sampson and Reggie Gunn.

The Bulldogs played without their leading scorer and rebounder, Nate Perry, who missed the game because of a leg injury.

SWOSU made 28-of-65 shots for 43%, considerably lower than their season average of 48%. The Bulldogs again made the most of their damage behind the three-point line connecting on 13 on a school-record 40 attempts.

UCO, which was led by Anthony Brown with 21 points, outrebounded the Bulldogs by 15 and made 49% of their shots. The major failure for the Bronchos was the 30 turnovers, 12 more than SWOSU.