OSU Falls To Baylor

WACO, Texas (AP) When it mattered most, Baylor finally made<br/>its free throws.<br/><br/>Curtis Jerrells scored 21 points and made the last of 6-straight Baylor foul shots in the final 41 seconds, helping

Saturday, March 3rd 2007, 3:47 pm

By: News On 6

WACO, Texas (AP) When it mattered most, Baylor finally made
its free throws.

Curtis Jerrells scored 21 points and made the last of 6-straight Baylor foul shots in the final 41 seconds, helping the Bears seal an 86-82 win over Oklahoma State on Saturday in a game the Cowboys played without suspended leading scorer Mario Boggan.

After sinking only 8 of 21 free throw attempts in the game's first 39 minutes, Baylor didn't miss in the waning seconds. That held off the Cowboys, who nearly rallied behind JamesOn Curry's 40 points after trailing by as much as 18.

"We've been in this situation quite a few times," said Aaron Bruce, who scored 13 points and hit 4-of Baylor's last 6-free throws. "Today we banded together and did the important things at the important time."

Henry Dugat scored 20 points for Baylor (14-15, 4-12) and Tweety Carter added 12.

Curry's career high helped offset the absence of Boggan, who was suspended by Oklahoma State coach Sean Sutton this week following a video review of Boggan head-butting Kansas State's Cartier Martin during a 84-70 win on Tuesday.

Curry finished the game with 12 field goals, 7-of them 3-pointers.

"I took the shots and hit them," Curry said. "But it still wasn't enough. I'd feel better scoring four (points) and winning."

The Cowboys (20-10, 6-9), who trailed almost the entire game, pulled to within 3-points at 80-77 with 1:17 remaining on 3-free throws Curry.

But Baylor then sank its 6-straight free throws after an otherwise sloppy game from the foul line, putting the game out of reach.

"We were able to penetrate and kick it out to the open man today," Dugat said. "Coach told us to finish strong, so we had plenty of those to get to the free throw line."

The Bears led 75-62 on a layup from Josh Lomers with just over 7-minutes remaining. But the Cowboys scored 10 straight points, cutting the margin to 75-72 at the 4:06 mark.

Jerrells' 3-pointer put Baylor ahead 80-72 with a little over 2-minutes left before Oklahoma State cut the deficit back to 80-77 on Curry's trio of free throws.

"I was disappointed in our effort for 30 minutes," Sutton said. "We did not play with a sense of urgency like our season was on the line."

Kenny Cooper finished with 16 points for the Cowboys.

The Bears, who led 41-32 at halftime, opened the 2nd-half with a 10-4 run, extending their margin to 51-36 with just over 17 minutes remaining. Baylor led by as much as 18 points at 64-46 midway through the 2nd-half.