Forte, Nash lead Oklahoma State over Prairie View A&M 74-52
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Phil Forte scored 17 points, and Le'Bryan Nash had 15 points and seven rebounds, to lead Oklahoma State to a 74-52 victory over Prairie View A&M Sunday afternoon at Gallagher-Iba Arena.
The Cowboys (2-0) led 31-25 at the break but broke open the game by rolling out to a 20-4 run over the first 8-plus minutes of the second half.
Jeffrey Carroll added 12 points and four rebounds for OSU, while Anthony Allen contributed six points and a career-high 14 rebounds.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Montrael Scott scored 16 points and added four rebounds to lead Prairie View A&M (0-2), while Tre Hagood had 12 points and 12 rebounds.
Leading 31-25 at halftime, the Cowboys quickly extended their advantage to 13 points after Nash hit a free throw and Carroll connected on back-to-back 3-pointers just over 2 minutes in.
Nash then scored the next six points for Oklahoma State to make it 44-29 with 15:19 remaining, and when Forte sank a 3-pointer from the right side with 11:48 to go, the Cowboys held a commanding 22-point lead.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}It was the second straight game that OSU carried a small lead into halftime before taking over and pulling away in the second half. The Cowboys led 35-33 at the break in their first contest against Southeastern Louisiana before winning the second half 48-22 en route to an 83-55 triumph.
Oklahoma State gained some momentum early after senior guard Marek Soucek was leveled with an errant hand to the face by Prairie View's Delvon Rencher away from the play with 10:33 left in the first half. Soucek went down hard and stayed there for several moments, clearly shaken up. With the score tied 10-10, Rencher was called for a flagrant foul, and Forte stepped in to sink both free throws, starting an 8-0 Cowboys run over the next 2 minutes. Soucek never returned.
The Panthers responded with a 6-1 run of their own to pull back to within 19-16, but Oklahoma State continued to build on its lead after that and never led by fewer than four points after that.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}TIP INS
Oklahoma State: Senior Michael Cobbins sat out the third game of his NCAA-mandated four-game suspension for playing in two games during his redshirt season of 2010-11. He will be back when the Cowboys host Milwaukee on Friday.
Prairie View A&M: The Panthers committed just nine turnovers in its season-opening 71-54 loss at TCU Friday night, but had that many in the first half alone, and 15 overall. The Panthers shot just 3 of 16 from 3-point range (18.8 percent).
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}UP NEXT
Oklahoma State hosts Northwestern Oklahoma State on Tuesday.
Prairie View A&M visits Rice on Wednesday.