Alva Review-Courier -

ADA – The East Central University men's basketball team took an early lead and never let up on the way to a 77-54 victory over Southwestern Oklahoma State in Great American Conference at on Wayne Cobb Court. The win marked the ninth straight for the Tigers, who are now 9-4 overall and 5-2 in the league.

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ECU saw a well-rounded effort in the scoring column, with four players netting over 10 points and 10 of the 12, who saw action, getting at least two points. Seniors Ishmael Donzo, Brett Cannon and Braxton Reeves each tallied 12 points, while freshman Camron Talley netted 11. Seniors KD Moore and Ben Brown-White led the team with six rebounds each.

While the Bulldogs (4-9, 1-6 GAC) started out strong and held the lead for the first eight minutes, ECU never let the deficit get larger than three and tied the game three times during the span. The final tie came with 12:17 remaining in the half. That is when the Tigers made the first push and went on a 14-2 run over the next five minutes (25-13).

ECU kept pushing the tempo and increased the lead to over 20 in the remaining minutes of the stanza and went to the locker room with a 41-17 advantage.

SWOSU tried to cut into the lead in the opening minutes of the second half, but were unable to get closer than 15 points. The Tigers then pushed back and increased the lead to as many as 29 points before claiming the 77-54 victory.

ECU and the Bulldogs were close in the over number of shots made (28-24), but it was the Tigers clear lead in triples (9-2) and free throws (12-4) that were the keys to the win.

ECU will now hit the road for the next three games, starting Saturday, Jan. 14 at Oklahoma Baptist at 3 p.m.