Owls Shoot Down No. 11 Cowboys

Oklahoma State's 11-year home winning streak against non-conference opponents came to an end Tuesday night in shocking fashion.

Gary Durrant scored 31 points, including the winning basket with 1.1 seconds left, and Damon Arnette added 24 points as Florida Atlantic stunned the 11th-ranked Cowboys 83-81.

The victory snapped the Cowboys' 80-game home winning streak against non-conference foes dating back to 1987. And it was pulled off by a team that came in with a 1-3 record after winning just five games a year ago.

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"I told the squad, they'll just have to live with this the rest of their lives," said Oklahoma State coach Eddie Sutton. "Maybe it'll open their eyes and they'll gain something from it, but right now it's pretty painful."

Oklahoma State (4-1) got a school-record 18 assists by Doug Gottlieb, but committed 17 turnovers compared with nine for the Owls.

The game was supposed TO be a tune-up for Oklahoma State's game this weekend against No. 18 UCLA. But the one-two punch of Arnette and Durrant proved too much for the Cowboys. Durrant, who had 10 rebounds, made five of the Owls' 11 3-pointers and Arnette added three.

Joe Adkins scored 19 for Oklahoma State, but got the ball stripped in the closing seconds and that led to Durrant's game-winner. Adkins' desperation jumper missed at the buzzer.

"We've been working since the first day of practice the day I got there four years ago to have an opportunity to win a game like this," said Owls coach Kevin Billerman. "The credit goes to our players tonight. We've talked so much about toughness and being ready to do things like box out and take charges and be tough defensively and I thought we did that at times."

The Cowboys led 73-71 with about 7½ minutes remaining, but three straight baskets by Cedric Powell triggered a 10-2 spurt that made the score 81-75.

Oklahoma State then missed the front end o two straight 1-and-1 opportunities, but got a follow shot and free throw by Alex Webber and a 3-pointer by Adkins that tied the score at 81 with just over a minute remaining.

Arnette missed from inside in the closing seconds and Adkins got the ball, but he lost it as he tried to dribble through traffic. Arnette scooped up the ball and scored.

durrant had 17 points AT halftime, including three 3-pointers, as the Owls overcame a 12-point deficit. He and Arnette had back-to-back 3-pointers during a 12-2 run that trimmed a 30-18 deficit to 32-30.

"We had them down 30-18 and 32-20, and really they were ready to break," Sutton said. "Our defense was not very good in the first half, really the whole ballgame. "

"As the game wore on, then all of a sudden they realized, Hey, we can play with Oklahoma State. "

Florida Atlantic trailed by two at halftime, but Durrant scored the first five points of the second half and the Owls didn't go away after that. Oklahoma State's largest second-half lead was 56-51, but a three-point play by Arnette quickly got the Owls close again.


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