Title Bid Falls Short

February 28, 2009

EDMOND, Okla. - Southwestern Oklahoma State University's late-season charge to a Lone Star Conference North Division title came up short after a 76-68 to Central Oklahoma Saturday in Edmond.

SWOSU finished its regular season at 17-10 and ended in a tie for second in the LSC North at 8-4. UCO improved to 23-4 and won the North with a 10-2 record. SWOSU will enter the LSC Tournament as the North Division's third-seeded team. The Bulldogs will play Angelo State, the South Division number two, Thursday in Bartlesville, Okla.. Tipoff will be 12 noon at the Bruin Fieldhouse.

Kenneth White had 23 points to lead the Bulldogs in scoring. White scored the bulk of his points late with his relentless drives to the basket. He made 17 trips to the free throw line where he connected on 15 of them.

Jerard Campbell had 14 points and Abdullah Lawal had 12 before fouling out with six minutes to play. SWOSU had two other players whistled for five fouls in addition to Lawal. Clarke Hale was sent to the bench after scoring nine points and his backup, Keith Richardson, was also disqualified.

Lance Harper had 20 points to lead UCO who entered the game as the nation's seventh-ranked NCAA Division II team. The Bronchos have now won three straight North Division crowns.

The game was even for much of the first half with each team exchanging leads before the Bronchos took a 30-26 lead at the break. SWOSU kept at UCO's heels in early portion of the second half. Hale's three-pointer brought the Bulldogs to within four at 49-45 with 9:20 to play.

UCO then began to distance itself and pushed its lead to double figures for the first time on a pair of free throws by Eric Cazenave with 6:20 to play. SWOSU could never mount a sustained run from that point on as the Bronchos managed to keep their distance to the final buzzer.