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Marchelus Avery came off the bench to score 18 points and grab 10 rebounds Wednesday night as Oklahoma State erased a 12-point first-half deficit to defeat visiting Tarleton State 66-61 in Stillwater.

Avery sealed the game with 4.5 seconds remaining by canning both ends of a one-and-one, allowing the Cowboys (7-3) to avoid what would have been a huge upset by the Texans (3-10). Bryce Thompson (seven rebounds) and Jamyron Keller each added 10 points.

Oklahoma State hit 57.7 percent of its field goals in the second half and dominated the glass, earning a 42-26 advantage. That allowed it to offset 18 turnovers and a 30-26 disadvantage in paint points.

Keitenn Bristow sank four 3-pointers among his 17 points and added seven rebounds for Tarleton State, while Marty Silvera added 16 points and six assists. Izzy Miles and Chris Mpaka each contributed 10 points but leading scorer Bubu Benjamin, who was averaging 17.3 ppg, made just 2-of-12 shots and tallied only five points.

The foul line also hurt the Texans, who made only 4 of 10, while the Cowboys converted 14 of 19.

Oklahoma State was a huge favorite, but Tarleton State took the game to the Cowboys for much of the first half.

The Texans rattled off 10 unanswered points to grab a 20-12 lead at the 9:57 mark on a Miles layup. They twice expanded the lead to 12. The last occurred on Bristow’s jumper with 2:38 left to make it 31-19.

While Tarleton State canned 56.5 percent of its field-goal attempts in the half and kept its turnovers down to eight — notable because it came in averaging a Division I-worst 20.7 per game — the Cowboys simply couldn’t make a shot.

They were just 7-of-29 shooting from the field in the half, including 2 of 11 from 3-point range, but closed within 31-25 at the break after rattling off six straight points.

–Field Level Media