Cowboys Derail NOC-Tonkawa, 80-64, Move into OCAC Tie for First Place With Mavericks
Connors State placed five players in double-figures and was perfect at the free throw line in the second half to move into a first place tie in the Oklahoma Collegiate Athletic Conference.
TONKAWA--Connors State placed five players in double-figures and was perfect at the free throw line in the second half to move into a first place tie in the Oklahoma Collegiate Athletic Conference.
The 19th-ranked Cowboys captured a stunning 80-64 victory over 24th-ranked Northern Oklahoma-Tonkawa Thursday at Piper-Foster Field House.
The Cowboys improved to 18-2 for the year, and 6-1 in OCAC play, while NOC-Tonkawa fell to 17-3 and 6-1.
Connors will now go on the road Monday once again to play Eastern Oklahoma State in Wilburton. Tip-off is 7:30 p.m.
The Cowboys were perfect at the charity strip in the second half draining 17-of-17, with Langston 11-of-11 at the stripe. Connors was 28 of 32 for the game.
Connors also got double-figure scoring from A.J. Cockrell with 15, Darius Roy 13, Mason Jones 12 and Bishop Coultre added another 10.
"They are averaging 80 points at home and with had to really guard and we did,"said Connors head coach Bill Muse. "To hold them to 64 points is outstanding. We did a much better job rebounding the second half over the first half.
"I thought our effort was really, really good.
"What wins games are free throws, rebounding and defense and we did all three very well tonight," said Muse.
Langston commenting on his performance said “We have been working on free throws more, because we have been struggling at the line.
"The key was to come in a play great defense and we did. It feels good to get into first place. We shouldn't have lost that first game (NEO)," said Langston, adding "We have made up for it the last five games."
In the second half the Mavericks led by five, 57-52 with 6:36 remaining. Connors regained the lead 58-57 on a pair of free throws by Langston with 5:02 left.
That's when the Cowboys took charge with outstanding defensive play and superb shooting at the line.
Connors increased its lead to 16 points, 76-62, the largest of the night, with 416 seconds left.
NOC jumped out to a 7-0 lead before the Cowboys got the offense untracked to tie the game at 7-all at the 15:44 mark.
It was a see-saw battle for the rest of the half with the Mavericks taking a two-point lead at the half, 36-34.
The opening half was tied four times with seven lead changes.
Connors held a 34-31 lead with 1:50 remaining in the half on a pair of free throws by Mason Jones and a bucket by Bishop Coultre.
However the Mavericks battled back to regain the lead at the half on a bucket by Trevion Lamar and shot from behind the arc by Kejodre Perry.
CONNORS STATE 80, NOC-TONKAWA 64
Connors State 34 46--80
NOC-Tonkawa 36 28--64
Connors State (18-2, 6-1)--Langston 26,Cockrell 15 Roy 13, Jones 12, Coultre 10, Bobb 4.
NOC-Tonkawa (17-4, 6-1)--Lamar 14, Uzuegbunem 13, Austin-John 10 Allen 10, Berrien 6, Hamil 4, Perry 2.