Williams scored five of his season-high 35 points in the final 54 seconds to give the Bronchos their 13th straight home win, rattling in a long 3-pointer at 0:54 to tie it and then drilling the game-winner to finish off a 26-point second-half eruption.
Shane Carroll's steal with 35 seconds left gave UCO the last shot and Williams dribbled the ball near mid-court before driving and in taking a step-back jumper that hit nothing but net. The Rams got off a desperation shot at the buzzer, but Ridge McKeither's 40-foot try was too strong.
The Bronchos improved to 9-1 with the hard-earned Lone Star Conference crossover victory, while hard-luck ASU fell to 0-5 with its fourth loss by four points or less.
“Dauntae hit a couple of big-time shots at the end and showed what kind of player he is,” UCO coach Terry Evans said. “It was a rugged game and a little ugly, but we got out of here with a win.”
Fifty-foul fouls were called in the contest that saw two ASU players foul out and seven players – including five Bronchos – finish with four fouls. Both teams attempted 30 free throws, but UCO made 25 while the Rams hit just 20.
Williams went to the line 16 times and made 11 while also hitting 11-of-20 shots with a pair of treys in his masterful 35-point outing and the senior star added four rebounds and three steals. No one else got in double figures for the Bronchos, though Carroll had eight points and Jarrod McDaniel, Tucker Phillips and Tyler Phillips scored seven apiece.
LaMarshall Corbett paced ASU with 32 points.
UCO trailed only once in the first half and took a 10-point lead (41-31) into intermission on Williams' tip-in off his own missed layup at the buzzer.
The lead peaked at 11 (52-41) on two Williams free throws with 15:10 left, but the Rams started chipping away and finally drew even at 62-all on a Steven Moore layup. ASU went up 70-67 on a Marshall 3-pointer, with the Bronchos coming back to take a 72-70 lead when Williams tipped in a miss and Tyler Phillips drilled a trey from the wing.
Marshall scored again to tie it and this time McDaniel hit a big 3-pointer from the wing to give UCO a three-point lead at 75-72 with 4:56 remaining. It was tied again at 75 and 77 before ASU went ahead 79-77 on two Richard Thomas foul shots at the 2:58 mark.
Carroll's layup gave the Bronchos an 80-79 lead with 2:27 left, but Thomas hit a layup at 2:14 and Corbett followed a UCO miss with a long jumper at 1:10 to make it 83-80 and set the stage for Williams' late heroics.
The reigning LSC North Division Player of the Year didn't disappoint, nailing a trey from the left wing with 54 seconds left and then following Carroll's steal with the dramatic game winner.
UCO returns to action Monday, hosting Abilene Christian at 8 p.m.
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