Box Score Edmond, Okla. - The Southwest Baptist University men's basketball team fell on the road at Central Oklahoma on Thursday evening 80-69. With the loss, SBU drops to 8-9 (3-8 MIAA) on the season.

The Bearcats and Bronchos were in a tight battle for the entire first half of the game. After UCO opened up the scoring, back-to-back layups from Brian Patterson and Kalehl Brown gave SBU an early 4-3 advantage. The back-and-forth scoring started to take off, and after the Bronchos re-gained the lead at 5-4, a pair of free throws from Kalund Brown put the Bearcats on top 6-5 with 17:32 left in the first half. Both teams would exchange leads, and after SBU trailed 10-8, the Bearcats used an 8-0 run to take a 16-10 lead with 13:49 left in the first half. SBU was able to convert from the free throw line during the run, connecting on all six free throw attempts. However, UCO fought back and would eventualy tie the game at 19-19 (10:40) before both teams would continue to exchange leads. The Bronchos took a 29-25 advantage with 6:37 left in the first half before back-to-back three's from Nate Nahirny and Andy Campbell put SBU on top 31-29. Damian Progmet then had an impressive put-back dunk, extending the SBU lead to 33-29. However, UCO would end the half on an 8-1 run as SBU went into the break trailing 37-34.

In the second half UCO quickly extended their lead to nine (44-35) with 18:11 remaining in the game, and boasted a double-digit lead of 52-41 with 15:03 left. The Bearcats continued to hang around, and after trailing 61-47 with 11:28 remaining, SBU used a 7-0 run to pull back within seven (61-54) with 10:06 to go. However, the Bronchos used the next four minutes to extend their lead back to double-figures as SBU would eventually fall 80-69.

Logan Hovey led the way for SBU with a team high 17 points while pulling down 7 rebounds in loss. Nate Nahirny added 13 points and 5 assists, while Kalehl Brown chipped in 12 points. As a team, SBU shot 34.0% from the field, 32.0% from beyond the arc, and 81.8% from the free throw line.

The Bearcats will return to action on Saturday, January 23 when they travel to Northeastern State. Tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m. from Tahlequah, Oklahoma.