Tulsa - This one counts. Despite a 24-point blowout loss to Oklahoma City in an exhibition game nearly two weeks ago, Central Oklahoma earned a hard-fought 56-53 victory over the Stars Saturday morning at the SWOSU Classic in Weatherford.

OCU led 26-24 with just under three minutes to play in the first half, but Central Oklahoma took the lead when Jordan Stark buried a three-pointer with 40 seconds left.

The Bronchos led 29-28 at halftime.

UCO started the second half with an 18-6 run to lead by 13 points, 47-34 on a layup by Courtney Allen with 9:49 left in the game. Oklahoma City clawed its way back into the game, trimming the lead to 54-51 on Holly Harden's layup with 1:52 left.

Ashley Beckley hit a pair of free throws to push the lead back to five, but Laura Duncan responded, scoring on a layup with 23 seconds left to bring the Stars back within three.

Kasey Tweed was fouled and missed the front end of the one-and-one, giving OCU one last shot. But, Lauren Gober's three-point attempt was off the mark and the Bronchos survived.

Stark led Central Oklahoma (2-1) with 19 points. Beckley added ten. Gober led Oklahoma City with 17 points and Starr Fairbanks added 11.

The Bronchos won despite being outrebounded 43-33 and committing 22 turnovers. Oklahoma City shot just 5-of-13 from the free throw line and had 20 turnovers themselves.

The loss was the first of the season for the Stars, ranked 8th in the NAIA.

UCO wil return to action Tuesday night at 6 p.m. at USAO. Oklahoma City won't play again until December third, traveling to play third-ranked Oklahoma Baptist.

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