PITTSBURG — Trey Starks scored 18 of his game-high 20 points in the second half as the Pittsburg State University men's basketball team rallied from a double-digit deficit to defeat the University of Central Oklahoma, 74-71, Saturday (Dec. 5) at John Lance Arena.

The Gorillas (7-1, 2-0 MIAA) trailed 38-25 at halftime against the Bronchos (4-4, 0-2 MIAA), but Pitt State erased the 13-point deficit in the first eight minutes of the second half, pulling even at 45-45 on Denton Hays' mid-range jumper with 12:26 to play. Hays followed with another jumper to give Pitt State a 47-45 advantage with 11:44 remaining and neither team led by more than three points down the stretch in a game that featured 11 ties.

Kendahl Amerson's 3-pointer gave UCO a 69-66 lead with 1:53 to play in the game, but Pitt State outscored the Bronchos 8-2 down the stretch.

Starks hit a jumper to make it a 69-68 game with 1:22 remaining. After UCO's Cornell Neal was called for an offensive foul, the Gorillas worked the ball to Starks again and he was fouled with 41 seconds left. His two free throws gave the Gorillas a 70-69 lead.

UCO's Seth Heckart missed a guarded 3-pointer with 21 ticks remaining and Starks was fouled and made two more free throws with 17 seconds to go.

Trai Jordan made two free throws with eight seconds remaining to get the Bronchos back to within a point, at 72-71. UCO then fouled Pitt State's Dakota Jones, who sank both charity shots for the game's final margin with six seconds to play. Garen Wright's desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer was off the mark for the Bronchos.

Josiah Gustafson scored 12 points to go along with Starks' game high total, while Javis Flynn added eight points, a game-high eight rebounds and four assists. Jones chipped in with nine points.

UCO got 16 points from Amerson, 15 from Neal, 12 from Heckart and 11 from Jordan.

The Gorillas will travel to St. Joseph, Mo., next Thursday (Dec. 10) to face MIAA rival Missouri Western State University at 7:30 p.m.