Leaderboard

Update: Ashton is a DNP vs. Omaha. Since mysteriously becoming eligible for the 2nd semester, he's seen only limited time but with flashes of Lufile-like power at the rim. Just wish he could get some minutes; I still think there's hope of him becoming a much-needed presence in the paint in time for Sioux Falls.

I hope this leads to more fans and attention for Denver; it would be great for the league if they (and, frankly, ANYONE outside the Dakotas) can get their program up and going.

ORU is now tied for 5th place. After the game, I stayed up and watched the end of the Denver versus South Dakota circus. That was one of the most entertaining double overtime matches I have ever seen. Almost anything that could happen in a basketball game, happened in those two overtime periods.

A step forward tonight to getting out of the cellar. Not much fun being a cellar dweller! It would be a big boost winning on Saturday night.

I just looked at the Live Stats (post game). It says ORU had more rebounds than Omaha tonight. Must be a typo.

Incredible "Summit League After Dark" classic Thursday, with Denver topping South Dakota 111-110 in double overtime on a steal and buzzer-beater. Max Abmas-doppelganger Tommy Bruner with 49 points for the Pioneers, Kaleb Stewart with merely 44 for the Coyotes. Bruner now holds the highest-scoring single game performance of the year in D1, and leads D1 in scoring average per game. Be sure to watch the last minute or so of this video; it's time well spent...

Cooper with 19 and the ORU ladies now 15-5 heading into the nationally televised contest at SDSU on Sunday afternoon....best start to a season in over 40 years for the Eagles....GO BLUE!!!

Verbal commits shows that we offered a Scholarship yesterday to Lajae. He is listed as shooting guard. Averages 14 points, 8 rebounds and shoots 39% from 3 point range. He played his freshman year at Tartelton State before transferring to Barton Community college in Kansas. He is originally from Jacksonville, Florida. Love that he is a big guard, gets boards, and shoots the three ball. Holds offers as well from Arkansas State and Bethune Cookman. https://kjccc.prestosports.com/sports/mbkb/2023-24/players/lajaejoneszot5?view=gamelog&pos=sh https://tarletonsports.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/lajae-jones/10318 https://www.verbalcommits.com/players/lajae-jones -

I figured I’d draw somebody offsides but I had my money on @theeagleman5

WSU is on an 0-8 run, and fans are hacked. One guy has the solution, though: "I am beginning to think we need to totally clean house- The WSU President, Athletic Director and the basketball coach." That should help.

Great finish and big time crowd....How did ORU manage to win in Denver?!?!?!?....

Thanks for posting OT, what a game.

Holy cow!! Incredible game!! There was a lot of energy in that arena down the stretch.

Thanks for the response Nodak and your explanation. One of my concerns with Midco is that it is a small regional provider at best covering mainly the Dakotas and a little in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Kansas. However, neither Denver, Tulsa, Omaha or St. Paul are in that geographical footprint. Hence, without signing up for the Midco/SL package I can not watch anything ORU and the same goes for Denver, Omaha and St. Thomas fans. For about the same amount of $$ it costs me to get the Midco/SL package I can signup for the entire ESPN package and watch anything from the SEC to the NEC. On any given day I can watch all sports from such major conferences as the ASun, Metro Atlantic Athletic, American East, Big South, Ohio Valley, SoCon, MVC or Horizon League. I also will add that those broadcasts are much clearer to watch with no technical difficulties. For a university like ORU, our alumni and therefore fans are literally not only in all 50 states but also around the world. That is the nature of our university. Thus a small regional provider which is unavailable to us unless you specifically signup for the app and pay the fees really does us no good. By extension I would add that unless one is a Summit League fan or alum of one of its member institutions, that person will not signup for the app or pay the fees. Further, none of the Summit League games are being watched in any establishments in this country unless they happen to be in the Dakotas. Therefore the Summit League is doing very little if anything to expand its footprint or market itself to the world. Finally and for the record, I did signup for the app and paid for an entire year because that apparently is the only way I can now watch ORU because I live approximately 1,000 miles away from Tulsa.

WOW!! What an amazing game.

Noon, Friday: 25 pages...and counting. Sincere conversations re: where the money might come for a buyout, and whether or not the AD and/or school president should be fired because of the hire, with their replacement(s) in turn axing HCPM before the donor bleeding reaches critical levels. Honeymoon is not only over; it's gone straight to therapy.

Most rebounds since the Denver game and the best ORU has played since the Denver game. Where has that rebounding been all year? The guys were locked in on the boards until maybe the last 7-8 minutes when they seemed to go back to their old ways of giving up missed free throw rebounds. Still some improvement from the North Dakota road trip last week.

I thought our bigs were improved tonight: 10 points and 10 rebounds combined. ORU looked to find them early on the offensive side and maybe that motivated the centers to rebound the ball. The Eagles really looked good with a small ball lineup: Miller in place of Weaver. Maybe the first time one could say that all year but Miller was a nice energy jolt off the bench. The offense did struggle at times but ORU went back to shooting 3s and hit 12 like the old days with Midcourt Max. A good start for the 3 game homestand. SDSU will be a very tough out on Saturday night.

Well that was a little more interesting then it needed to be but a win is a win. ORU hangs on 74-67....McBride 22 and Bedford 19 lead the way....Good Guys out of the cellar...now let's get ready for the Jacks!...

I don't know how good of a team Omaha really is. But this was certainly a more complete game by the Eagles. Solid defense and much better board/rebound play. For the most part, they had better ball movement and a ton more aggressiveness all over the floor. So good to see tonight for a must win for the Eagles.

Max is getting some love in our home town. In the SportsDay section of yesterday's Dallas Morning News there was a picture of Max at the top of the front page with the headline Jesuit-ex leads UT leading readers to the game story on page 4. Here's the AP Story Abmas leads Longhorns to road rout TEXAS 75, NO. 11 OKLAHOMA 60 NORMAN, Okla. — Max Abmas (Jesuit) continues to be just fine in his transition from the Summit League to the Big 12. The transfer from Oral Roberts scored 22 points to help the Longhorns roll past No. 11 Oklahoma 75-60 on Tuesday night. “He draws so much attention, it’s hard to help, to get your help defense going with him,” Oklahoma coach Porter Moser said. “Tremendous player. ... Super-efficient night by an all-league player.” Dylan Disu had 19 points and 10 rebounds, and Dillon Mitchell added eight points and 13 boards for the Longhorns (14-5, 3-3 Big 12), who shot 50% from the floor to win their sixth straight in the rivalry. Texas was coming off a victory over then-No. 9 Baylor on Saturday. Abmas went 4 of 8 on 3-pointers and shot 8 for 14 from the field overall. “Max did a great job being a great floor leader for us in terms of just executing the things that we were trying to get done offensively,” Texas coach Rodney Terry said. Jalon Moore scored 15 points for the Sooners (15-4, 3-3).

Baptist Athletic Supply???? Grip probably used to hang around with this guy......

We were even on a different board back then!! The current message board iteration was introduced by Dr. Cornelius and ORUTerry in 2005, I believe.

Jacob Parker! That was it. Great player! Thanks!

With the current transfer portal I'm sure ORU could make right any wrongs done in their recruiting efforts regarding Mr. Sutton.

Wow, OT! A memory like a steel trap!! My "fondness" for Stephen Freaking Austin goes back to the 2002-03 season, when SFA handed the 6-0 Golden Eagles their first loss of the season. It's amazing you remember that!! It appears that we've played them four times since, and lost every time!! Those four game were no doubt during ORU's disastrous venture into the Southland Conference.

Because echo chambers are boring and there isn't a Summit League message board. I like Midco but I don't work for them.. just thought you guys might be interested in knowing about the free games, for those who don't subscribe. I want Midco to be successful so that they can improve their streaming service (the user interface sucks and they don't have split screen like NCHC.TV does). I also hate ESPN.

I just saw on College Insider that the Lady Golden Eagles are beginning to receive votes for the top 25. This week they have 2. If they keep winning they will certainly climb up the leader board. Here's wishing Coach Kelsi Musick and the women much more success.

Thanks for sharing, OT....TheEagleman didn't know this kind of stuff....so my mind has changed.....i now WILL ROOT AGAINST Wichita State every game....and hope that Shocker Fans ride Mills unmercifully......the guy really conned me and most ORU fans from the sound of it.....just thought he was a mighty man of Valor and Integrity....but apparently not.....he was just after a bigger job and more money.......Max left and guess he decided he would also.....adios, pal!!!

Random side note - I know Omaha F Marquel Sutton, their second leading scorer and leading rebounder who is from Tulsa (Will Rogers). Coming out of highschool he had no D1 offers(partly due to growing from 6'3 to 6'8 between start of junior and end of senior year) and ended up at Connors State for a year then Omaha. He actually grew up a decent ORU fan and when they made the tournament run in 2021 (his senior year) he mentioned how he'd love to play for ORU and it was cool they were "putting Tulsa on the map". Ironically, he now gets the opportunity to play us twice a year (and once in his hometown).

Omaha is an average team at best....they have lost 2 in a row and ORU has lost 3 in a row.....we are a -4.5 and TheEagleman is thinking that a couple weeks ago the Good Guys would be 8 or 9 point favorites in a game like this.....it's time to wake up and play some ball.....do the basics correctly.....we will see tonight and Saturday if Coach Springmann's words are getting thru to these guys.....or maybe we just stink.....honestly, I don't think we stink....not ready to admit that just yet....TheEagleman expects ORU to come into Mabee Center tonight ready to play and get a win....it's time to end the streak and beat a team whom ORU should beat all day everyday.....so let's do it....expecting McBride and Thompson and maybe Bedford to lead the way......also expecting the home crowd to be loud and supportive....Grip needs to rock the house!!....ORU 79 Omaha 71.....GO BLUE!!!

I think that’s a fair statement, except I have a different view on the “lying” and “didn’t believe it himself”. I don’t think he came in to the job saying “I’m going to win championships and then leave for Wichita State”. Like anyone at a new job you are optimistic and view yourself there long term. Some of that stuff is “coach talk”, is he supposed to say “I’m committed to ORU, but if a life changing opportunity opens up, I may take it?” New coaches and players always talk about championships to inspire the fanbase. Sometimes opportunities come up, and you realize your life is headed elsewhere job wise, now is that lying or just life? I don’t know. Now I have never met him, so others may correct me, but until the Wichita State signing happened, he seemed all in and locked in for ORU. I think he brought us closer to Gonzaga than we were before him. All that said, I get why people are upset, I may just not be one of them.

Probably some recency bias there. Still cool.

I speak only for myself. I don't blame Mills for taking an offer to more than double his income. I hold him accountable for lying to his recruits, our administration and this fanbase when he said "you can win national championships at ORU" and "I'm here to build the next Gonzaga" when it is clear by his actions that he didn't believe it himself. If he did, he would have said to Wichita State "Wow! That's a really great offer but I'm building something special at a place that is very special and when we have completed the journey the money will be there for me." That having been said, I'm just gonna say that I'm petty enough to find it interesting that he left a really good frying pan to jump into the fire and he may find the money is greener but the grass isn't...at least so far. (yes I did take a mixed metaphor class online taught by several famous board contributors).

Maybe I’m just too young to have deep rooted loyalty ideas, but if you offer to more than double my income, unless God tells me “NOOOOO” I’m taking it 100/100 times. He was a class act while here, and I wish I had gone to ORU ten years later to enjoy the success he led the team to. I hope he does well at Wichita State, and I’ll only cheer against him if he plays ORU.

It all comes down to the bigs: ORU has to get some production out of them. In the two conference wins the centers (Herron, Jones, and Smith) averaged 16 points and 9 rebounds combined and in the losses they struggled. If the frontcourt shows up then the Eagles can win but otherwise it will be another long night.

IS THERE ANYTHING this young man says or does that doesn't make you proud that he was a part of ORU for four years?? He may be wearing a Longhorns jersey, but I still feel like he's out there representing ORU!!

OMAHA, OMAHA...HERE WE GOOOO!!!

It's funny, though, watching Max score 22 in what we all might have considered (and justifiably so) merely an average performance while at ORU. I keep waiting for when he REALLY explodes in a game, to which we'll all say matter-of-factly, "Yeah, well, that's just Max being Max."

Only 3 weeks to go.....TheEagleman is ready for some ORU Baseball.....

Max is such a sharp young man....clearly an intelligent dude who gets it....at some point in the future this guy needs to be on the ORU payroll in some capacity......we miss him!!

My bad! FUN FACT: "facetious" is the only word in the English language with one of every vowel, all in order. I'm not sure what that has to do with anything, but that's just the kind of stuff that clutters my brain these days instead of things that might actually matter, like phone numbers and website passwords.

Just like the rest of us old-timers.

Not so sure he was terrified of anyone, but the timing of his departure iss puzzling. Sudden, no hints, no successor in the wings. It smacks of someone who was ticked-off about something. The rumors around Tuscaloosa are that he was frustrated with the school's NIL efforts to date; didn't feel like they were competitive nationally.