Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboys hold off surging Athletes First squad, 90-82
November 13, 2003 | Cowboy Basketball
OSU had five players score in double figures, led by Tony Allen's 15 on 6-of-8 shooting from the floor. Forward Ivan McFarlin added 14 points and seven rebounds, while newcomer John Lucas chipped in 14 points, six rebounds and five assists. Junior Daniel Bobik had 11, all in the first half, and Stephen Graham scored 11 as well.
"I think we showed a little chemistry out there," said Stephen Graham. "We have a long way to go. This is the first game, and we had to get the jitters out."
Oklahoma State took a four-point lead seven minutes into the contest on a layup by Allen. But, Athletes First went on a 20-7 run to take a nine point lead with 6:46 remaining in the first period. The Cowboys cut the lead to four on several times, including one minute before halftime, and trailed the visitors, 40-36, at intermission.
"The first half, we played kind of sloppy," said McFarlin. "The second half, we played a lot better and got the crowd excited. We fed off the crowd noise and we really played more the way we are supposed to play."
Both squads went back and forth throughout the first 10 minutes of the second stanza before OSU went on a 6-0 run to take a 61-55 lead. That lead grew to 20 points in the next six minutes as the Cowboys went on a 22-8 spree, including four of newcomer David Monds' eight points.
"We were able to play a lot of new people," said Coach Sutton. "I thought, for a young player coming in for the first time, David Monds played very well. Frans, even though he got in foul trouble, did okay. He is getting better."
Former Cowboy Joe Adkins made the game interesting as he scored 14 of his game-high 33 points in the final 2:33, including a trio of three pointers. John Woods added 17 points for Athletes First, while Demetric Shaw chipped in 10.
"When I was playing here, I never shot like that at home," Adkins joked. "I was always a better shooter on the road. I guess I was the visitor today and I was able to shoot better. This has always been a good shooting arena. Because it is so big, when we came in for shoot-around, we kept talking about how the rims seemed so high."
OSU shot 50 percent for the game, including 22 of 38 in the second half, while limiting Athletes First to just 37.9 percent from the floor. The Cowboys also shot well at the free-throw line, connecting on 17-of-20 shots from the charity stripe.
Oklahoma State will return to action on Monday, Nov. 17, as the Cowboys host EA Sports in a 7 p.m. game.
