Cowboys Hold Off Seminole State in OCAC Battle, 75-68

WARNER–Connors State's clutch free throw shooting down the stretch along with some tenacious defense captured an impressive 75-68 Oklahoma Collegiate Athletic Conference victory over visiting Seminole State Thursday night 75-68.

The Cowboys step out of league play on Saturday and will head to Louisiana to play Southern Shreveport at 4 p.m., before returning home to battle Region II opponent Arkansas Baptist on Tuesday night to close the first half of the season.

Connors (10-1, 1-1) drained 20-of-32 free throws, six in the final 57 seconds to secure the victory against Seminole State (11-3, 1-1).

Cowboys had three players score in double figures with Darius Roy leading the attack with 19 points. Roy was followed by Ra'Shawn Langston's 16 and Zaph Bobb's 14 point output.

"I thought we had excellent guard play tonight, much better than in the previous game,” said Cowboys head Coach Bill Muse. "I thought we played excellent defense against a very good basketball team

"To hold a team 20 points below their average was pretty good. We are coming along on defense, but that's what you have to do in junior college basketball.

"I was much happier with our effort tonight. This gets us headed in the right direction again," said Muse.

The Cowboys saw a 10 point lead, 62-52 sliced to a single point 66-65 with 1:57 remaining in the physically played ball game.

Bishop Coulter put the Cowboys back on top by three 68-65 at the 1:22 mark. That's when the Cowboys went to the line five times to ice the game.

Connors led at the half 41-35, with their largest margin in the first 20 minutes 10 points, 22-12 at the 11:50 mark. The game was tied four times in the first half.

Darnell Butler led the Trojans' scoring with 27 points, who is headed to Arizona State. He was followed by Russell Baker’s 13 points and Aaron Givens’ 11.

CONNORS STATE 75, SEMINOLE STATE 68

Seminole State 35  33â–68

Connors State 41  34–75

Seminole State (11-2, 1-1)–Butler 27, Baker 13, Givens 11, Anderson 6, Blackwell 5, Rose Jr. 2, Thabodaux 2, Koracin 2.

Connors State (10-1, 1-1)–Roy 19, Langston 16, Bobb 14, T. Jones 9, M. Jones 5, Putnam 5, Cockrell 4, Coulter 3.