The Missouri Western men’s basketball team lost at Central Oklahoma Tuesday night, 74-57, in the first round of the MIAA Tournament.

The Griffons had three players score in double figures with Kalvin Balque, Ryan Devers and Charlie Marquardt finishing with 13, 13 and 11 respectively. The Griffons end the season with an 10-18 overall record.

The Griffons played the Bronchos tough in the first frame with neither team leading by more than seven points. The Bronchos opened the game taking a 14-7 lead after a Josh Gibbs long range shot with 12:48 to play in the frame. The Griffons responded nicely going on a 11-3 run claiming an 18-17 lead after a Dareon Jones layup with 9:02 to play. The rest of the half would be back and forth as UCO outscored the Griffons 19-15 taking the 36-33 lead into the half.

Neither team shot the ball that well as the Griffons made just 28.1-percent (9-32) of their shots to the Bronchos 42.9-percent (12-28). Both teams made three long range shots. The Griffons stayed in it from the free throw line making 75-percent (12-16) to the Bronchos 52.9-percent (9-17).

The Griffons were led by Marquardt with nine points on 3-of-5 shooting while Balque dumped in seven. Colbert led the Griffons on the boards with six. The Bronchos were led by Josh Gibbs with 17 points and six boards. He made 4-of-10 field goals and 3-of-6 long range shots. He also made 6-of-8 free throws.

The Griffons hung in the game for the first nine minutes of the second half trailing by just six at 53-47 after a Balque three with 11:18 to play in the game. The next three minutes belonged to the Bronchos opening up a 14 point lead at 61-47 after an Aaron Anderson free throw with 8:03 to play in the game. The Griffons struggled down the stretch falling by 17 points.

The Griffons shot just 26.7-percent (16-60) and 25-percent (6-26) from long range. Colbert and Marquardt had seven rebounds while Balque and Hans Thun had six rebounds.

The Bronchos shot 41.9-percent (26-62) from the field with Gibbs leading the way with 32 points on 9-of-20 shooting. He also had 15 rebounds and made 6-of-13 long range shots. Philip Brown and Anderson had 14 and 11 points respectively. UCO improves to 18-9 overall and will play #4 seed Fort Hays State at 2:15 pm on Friday, March 7.

— MWSU Sports Information —