The Bronchos had seen an 18-point halftime lead turn into a nine-point deficit midway through the second half before rallying down the stretch, getting clutch plays from Friday, Carroll and a host of others to remain unbeaten.
“We looked in great shape at halftime, but Missouri Western came out and really took it to us to start the second half,” said head coach Terry Evans, whose team improved to 7-0 on the season. “But we didn’t panic and just stayed with what we were doing. We had a lot of guys step up in the last 10 minutes and we got out of here with the win.”
The Bronchos appeared firmly in control after building a huge 18-point cushion (43-25) at intermission, but the Griffons came out firing from long range in the second half and quickly surged in front.
MWSU hit six straight 3-pointers and scored 37 points in the first 10 minutes of the second half to go in front 62-53 and put UCO on its heels, but the Bronchos answered back.
Dauntae Williams had a pair of layups and Carroll a 3-pointer in a 15-6 spurt that got UCO back in the game, with June Carter’s two free throws pulling the Bronchos even at 68-all at the 6:24 mark.
UCO broke a 75-75 deadlock and went ahead to stay on two Carroll foul shots with 3:07 left to play and the lead grew to 84-77 when Tyler Phillips drained a trey from the top of the key with just 1:34 left. It became an eight-point lead at 87-79 when Carroll drilled a 3-pointer from the wing at 1:06, but the Griffons came back to within three at 89-86 at 0:25.
The Bronchos then clinched it with a breakaway dunk by Friday, who took a long pass from Tucker Phillips in stride before flushing down the slam and drawing a foul. He converted the free throw to finish the three-point play that made it 92-86 with 23 seconds remaining and UCO had its 12th consecutive home win in the bag.
Friday scored 12 of his career-high 24 points in the game-ending 10-minute surge, while Carroll had 11 of his 15.
It was the second straight night for Friday to finish with a career high. The junior guard, who had 21 points in UCO’s 91-59 rout of Oklahoma Panhandle Friday, hit 10-of-14 shots and 4-of-6 free throws in the 24-point outing and also tied a career high with eight rebounds.
Carroll had 15 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals, with Williams adding 15 points, six boards, three assists and two steals and Carter 10 points, five rebounds and two blocked shots. Jarrod McDaniel dished out six assists against no turnovers.
MWSU led 14-9 five minutes into the game before Tyler Phillips hit a 3-pointer to ignite a devastating 23-0 run that ended with two Carroll free throws that gave the Bronchos a 32-14 lead with 6:14 left.
UCO upped the lead to 20 (41-21) before settling for the 43-25 halftime advantage that quickly disappeared in the opening minutes of the second half.
The Bronchos return to action next week with a pair of road games, going to Incarnate Word on Thursday and Texas A&M-Kingsville on Saturday.
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