ADA – The East Central University men's basketball team dropped a heartbreaker to Southwestern Oklahoma State in the final minutes, 57-58, at the Kerr Activities Center in Great American Conference action.
Photo GalleryThe Tigers (5-3, 2-1 GAC) were paced by senior
Henry Pwono and junior
Stirling Thomas. Thomas had a team-best 19 points, while Pwono added 10 points and a team-high eight rebounds. All eight players that say action for ECU garnered at least two points in the game.
The Tigers took control from the start of the first half, going on a 5-0 run in the first three minutes. ECU then pushed ahead to lead 14-5 with 13:30 left to play. Both teams then picked up the defense holding each other scoreless for the next two minutes.
The Tigers increased the lead to 12 over the next few minutes, but saw that lead dwindle to six with a 6-0 Bulldog (5-2, 1-1 GAC) run. The teams traded points and runs through the rest of the stanza, but ECU went into the locker room with a 31-23 advantage.
The Tigers came out ready to fight in the second half, opening with another 5-0 run to push the lead back to double-digits. ECU kept the advantage between 8-10 points for most of the half until 7:30 remained. That is when SWOSU started to fight back and slowly worked the deficit from six points to two (49-51), with three minutes left to play.
The teams both increased the pressure and played even for the next 2:30, but it was the Bulldogs who used a 9-2 run in the final 30 seconds the 57-58 victory. The run included a three with just four seconds left on the clock by Martell Collins.
The key to victory for SWOSU came on turnovers, as ECU committed 13 and the Bulldogs scored 15 points off of those miscues.
The Tigers will now prepare for a road battle with Northwestern Oklahoma State, Saturday, Dec. 6 at 3 p.m. in Alva, Okla.
