No. 6 Baylor survives a scare from unranked Pokes

By Garret Young

STILLWATER –  The unranked Oklahoma State Cowboys took the No. 6 Baylor Bears down to the wire in historic Gallagher-Iba Arena on Saturday afternoon.

The Cowboys rallied from a nine-point deficit to take a 57-56 lead with 1:42 to play.  That got all 10, 775 fans on their feet.  It would be their only lead in the game.

Baylor forward Quincy Acy came off a designed play out of a timeout with a basket to give the lead back to the Bears.  After back and forth possessions, the Bears led the Cowboys 62-60 with seven seconds left.

Then Brady Heslip, a 95 percent free throw shooter, missed the second free throw of a one-and-one, and Quincy Acy grabbed his sixth offensive rebound of the game to clinch the game winning free throws for the bears. Baylor would go on to win 64-60.

This was Baylor’s first win in Gallagher Iba since the 2003 season, snapping an eight-game losing streak.

The Cowboys have already lost a number of players due to transfers and injuries going into the Baylor game. OSU faced off against Baylor without its starting center Philip Jurick due to a foot injury and backup point guard Cezar Guerrero was suspended for violating team rules.

Brian Williams, who scored a career high of 23 points and finished 9 of 15 from the field, gave the Cowboys a scoring spark they needed to keep up with the high-octane offense of the Bears. Senior guard Keiton Page added 15 points, but struggled from three-point range down the stretch.

The Cowboys fall to 11-12 overall and 4-6 in conference play. Baylor improved its overall record to 20-2 and 8-2 in conference play. The Cowboys return to action Tuesday, Feb. 7, to face off against Iowa State.