Men's Basketball | 3/2/2018 11:25:24 PM

Kansas City, Mo. –  A 12-3 run midway through the second half by No. 4 seed Central Oklahoma helped the Bronchos push past fifth seed Central Missouri 72-68 in quarterfinal action of the 2018 MIAA Basketball Tournament inside historic Municipal Auditorium.
 
Central Oklahoma (20-9) had five score in double-figures led by 20 points from Jordan Hemphill. Jake Hammond and Corbin Byford had 15 points, while Marquis Johnson scored 12.
 
Central Missouri (20-10) was led by 29 points from Spencer Reaves, while Matt Wilkinson scored 19.
 
A three pointer from Reaves with 16:54 left got UCM within three (9-6), but the Bronchos went on a 9-0 run and after a layup from Hemphill, led 18-6 with 11:25 left, forcing a Central Missouri timeout.
 
The run for the Bronchos reached 11-0, but the Mules answered back with a 7-0 run to get within seven (20-13) and force a timeout from UCO with 4:49 left in the half.
 
Coming out of the timeout, the Bronchos got back-to-back threes from Marquis Johnson to lead 26-13 with 3:16 to go and that lead would be 30-20 at the break after a dunk from Jake Hammond with just under a minute to go proved to be the last score of the half.
 
The UCO lead was 36-30 with 13:53 to go, but the Bronchos went on a 7-3 run to open up a ten-point lead (43-33) with 11:21 left after a three from Jordan Hemphill. The run reached 12-3 before a three from Reaves got the Mules back to within 12 (48-36).
 
The Mules cut the lead to seven (57-50) after a pair of free throws from Reaves, but a dunk from Hammond put the Bronchos back up nine. Central Missouri got as close as seven three times and four late, but couldn’t close the gap.
 
UCO will move on to face off against Northwest Missouri at 8:15 pm in semifinal action tomorrow evening.