ORU edges Hawks - Tulsa World (11-27-05)

[ORUTerry]

ORU edges Hawks

By Staff Reports

11/27/2005

Golden Eagles take third in Alaska with second-half surge.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Struggling again with its shooting, the Oral Roberts University basketball team got a lift from two unlikely sources.

Guard Jonathan Bluitt and center Mickey Michalec combined to score 21 second-half points as the Golden Eagles held on to beat Monmouth (N.J.) 62-54 for third place in the Great Alaska Shootout.

Bluitt scored a season-high 13, all in the second half, and Michalec scored eight of his 10 in the final 20 minutes to match a season high.

ORU (2-2) led from start to finish, but shot under 45 percent for the fourth straight game and lost a season-high 19 turnovers.

Monmouth (1-3) trailed by 19 in the first half and 16 in the second, but rallied within five points three times down the stretch, the last time with 1:15 left. But ORU's Yemi Ogunoye had a key offensive rebound and Bluitt made 4-of-6 foul shots in the final minute to put the game out of reach.

ORU's lead was only 57-52 after Marques Alston's basket, and Bluitt missed two foul shots with 47 seconds left, but the 6-foot-8 Ogunoye got the loose ball and gave it back to Bluitt, who was fouled again.

This time, Bluitt made both foul shots and added two more on ORU's next trip and it was 61-52.

Bluitt also hit 3-of-5 from 3-point range. Michalec hit his first four shots of the final period as ORU expanded a 30-22 halftime lead to 44-28.

Ken Tutt led ORU scoring with 15 points. Caleb Green, playing only 22 minutes before fouling out for the second time in four games, finished with nine points and 10 rebounds. It was only 10th time in his ORU career that Green has failed to score in double figures.

Larry Owens had nine points and seven rebounds. Ogunoye had only two points but nine rebounds, including four offensive, as ORU outrebounded the Hawks 36-21.

"We beat a good team tonight," ORU coach Scott Sutton said of the Hawks, defending Northeast Conference champs. "A lot of our fans may not understand how good they are, but in my opinion they have a great chance to win their league and play in the NCAA Tournament."

Junior center Corey Hallett scored 20 points but the Eagles held 6-foot-6 Dejan Delic scoreless on 0-of-6 shooting. Delic was averaging 22.3 points per game.

"(Ogunoye and Owens) really did a nice job on Delic. Every time he shot a 3-pointer, we had a 6-foot-8 guy flying at him."

Sutton was also relieved to get away from Alaska with two wins in three games. The Eagles hammered Southern California 68-48 in Wednesday's first round and lost to Marquette 73-70 in Friday's semifinals.

"We would have like to win the tournament, but the worst you want to happen is that you get two out of three," he said.

The Eagles will travel all day Sunday, arriving back in Tulsa about 8 p.m. ORU will play its next three at home.

Oral Roberts 62, Monmouth 54

ORAL ROBERTS (2-2)

Min FG 3pt FT Reb O-T F Pt.

Owens, f 35 4-10 0-0 1-2 2-7 4 9

Green, f 22 3-5 0-0 3-3 5-10 5 9

Michalec, c 31 5-11 0-0 0-0 0-1 4 10

Tutt, g 38 6-14 3-9 0-0 0-3 0 15

Bluitt, g 32 3-5 3-5 4-6 0-2 2 13

Riouse 13 1-2 0-1 1-3 0-0 1 3

Vealy 0+ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0

Meloy 3 0-1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0

Ogunoye 26 1-4 0-0 1-2 4-9 1 3

TEAM 3-4

TOTAL 23-52 6-15 10-16 14-36 17 62

Assists -- Michalec 8, Tutt 3, Bluitt 3, Ogunoye 2, Owens 1, Green 1

Turnovers -- Owens 6, Green 4, Tutt 3, Riouse 2, Ogunoye 2, Michalec 1, Bluitt 1

Steals -- Michalec 2, Owens 1, Bluitt 1, Ogunoye

Technical fouls -- Green

MONMOUTH (1-3)

Min FG 3pt FT Reb

O-T F Pt.

Halliett, f 34 10-14 0-0 0-0 1-5 2 20

Delic, g 26 0-6 0-5 0-0 1-4 5 0

Coleman, g 31 4-6 1-2 0-0 0-1 4 9

Alston, g 20 5-8 0-1 2-3 0-3 4 12

Kenny, g 33 2-5 1-4 3-4 0-1 2 8

Nunner 10 0-2 0-2 0-0 0-2 1 0

Azzarelli 3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0

Shipman 27 2-3 1-2 0-0 0-3 1 5

Johnson 3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0

Wilson 13 0-2 0-0 0-0 0-2 1 0

TOTAL 23-46 3-16 5-7 2-21 20 54

Assists -- Shipman 7, Delic 2, Kenny 2, Wilson 2, Nunner 1

Turnovers -- Delic 3, Coleman 3, Halliett 2, Alston 2, Kenny 2, Shipman 2, Johnson 2, Wilson 1, Nunner 1

Steals -- Shipman 2, Halliett 2, Coleman 1, Alston 1, Kenny 1

Technical fouls -- None

Oral Roberts 30 32 -- 62

Monmouth 22 32 -- 54

Attendance -- 7,321

[Bogus Smith]

Oral Roberts 62, Monmouth 54

By KEVIN KLOTT

Anchorage Daily News

Published: November 27, 2005

Last Modified: November 27, 2005 at 03:57 AM

When Oral Roberts' men's basketball team returns to Oklahoma this afternoon, the Golden Eagles will have plenty of Alaska yarns.

Highlights? How about the harrowing 12 inches of snow that fell on Anchorage last week, or the speedy dog sled ride that chilled every player? Or how about the Golden Eagles' 62-54 victory over Monmouth in Saturday's third-place game of the Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout at Sullivan Arena?

Oral Roberts finished the Shootout 2-1, and other than fast dogs and deep snow, center Mickey Michalec will remember Saturday's game the most for its funky statistics.

The Golden Eagles' 6-foot-11, 280-pound senior scored 10 points on 5-of-11 shooting, while recording career highs in assists (8 ) and steals (2). He grabbed just one rebound.

"Have you ever seen a 6-foot-11 center put up eight assists and only have one rebound?" asked Oral Roberts head coach Scott Sutton. "He could be our backup point guard."

Sutton was kidding, of course. His point guard, Jonathan Bluitt, collected 13 points on 6-of-14 shooting and drained 3-of-5 from three-point range while shooting guard Ken Tutt scored a team-high 15 points.

But when it came down to converting big plays to eventually squash a never-say-die Monmouth squad, Michalec was no joke.

"I was just trying to play my role, Michalec said. "You've gotta find your niche somewhere."

Michalec found his stroke just after halftime, when Oral Roberts needed someone to take charge.

The Golden Eagles (2-2) led by 19 points in the first half but soon fell apart -- leading only 30-22 at halftime. But Michalec scored six straight points on smooth jumpers early in the second half to extend Oral Roberts' lead to 36-26.

"It's disappointing how you can beat yourself," Michalec said about losing a 19-point lead. "That's basketball for you.

"We wanted it tonight because we beat ourselves last night (Friday)."

Michalec was referring to Oral Roberts' 73-70 semifinal loss to Marquette. The Golden Eagles had the right stuff to win Friday -- Caleb Green had 28 points, 12 rebounds --but couldn't recover from an 11-point second-half deficit.

On Saturday, it was Monmouth (1-3) that couldn't rally or grab an offensive rebound. The Hawks held Green, Oral Roberts' leading scorer, to just nine points. He grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds while his team out-muscled Monmouth on the offensive boards, 14-2.

"Historically, we're not a good rebounding team," Monmouth head coach Dave Calloway said.

The Hawks started slow Saturday, the Monmouth magic from the previous night gone. So was sharp-shooting guard Tyler Azzarelli, who suffered a stress fracture in his foot Thursday. Also missing was 7-foot-2 center John Bunch, one of four players who are serving suspensions for violating team rules in October.

We started off slow and we're not a good team coming from behind," Calloway said. "That's not our style."

While Monmouth opened flat, Oral Roberts guard Ken Tutt hit a pair of early three-pointers to help push the Golden Eagles to a 10-2 lead.

Oral Roberts extended the lead to 27-8 with 6:14 remaining in the half while Monmouth was stuck in scoreless slump of 5 minutes, 45 seconds.

But Monmouth closed the half with a flurry, using three-pointers from Whitney Coleman, Chris Kenny and Mike Shipman to spark a 14-3 run that cut the gap to 30-19.

The first half was a turnover-fest, with Monmouth turning the ball over 12 times to Oral Roberts' 11. In the second half, Monmouth cleaned up its act, committing no turnovers and trimming a 19-point deficit into a five points at 7:15.

Junior center Corey Hallett scored eight points in that run, finishing with a game-high 20 on 10-of-14 shooting.

But in the closing minutes, Oral Roberts' nailed six of its last 10 free throws and got a key three pointer from Bluitt to clinch the victory. Bluitt finished with two rebounds -- one more than Michalec whose armpit is level with Bluitt's head.

"We had an advantage with our big guys," Bluitt said. "We crashed the glass consistently. Coach emphasizes that even I can crash the glass."

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Daily News reporter Kevin Klott can be reached at kklott@adn.com.

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ORAL ROBERTS (62)

Owens 4-10 1-2 9, Green 3-5 3-3 9, Michalec 5-11 0-0 10, Tutt 6-14 0-0 15, Bluitt 3-5 4-6 13, Riouse 1-2 1-3 3, Vealy 0-0 0-0 0; Meloy 0-1 0-0 0, Ogunoye 1-4 1-2 3. Totals 23-52 10-16 62.

MONMOUTH (54)

Hallett 10-14 0-0 20, Delic 0-6 0-0 0, Coleman 4-6 0-0 9, Alston 5-8 2-3 12, Kenny 2-5 3-4 8, Nunner 0-2 0-0 0, Azzarelli 0-0 0-0 0, Shipman 2-3 0-0 5, Johnson 0-0 0-0 0, Wilson 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 23-46 5-7 54.

Three-point goals -- Oral Roberts 6-15 (Bluitt 3-5, Tutt 3-9, Riouse 0-1), Monmouth 3-16 (Coleman 1-2, Shipman 1-2, Kenny 1-4, Alston 0-1, Delic 0-5).

Total fouls -- Oral Roberts 17, Monmouth 20. Fouled out -- Green, Delic.

Rebounds -- Oral Roberts 36 (Green 10), Monmouth 21 (Hallett 5).

Assists -- Oral Roberts 18 (Michalec 8 ), Monmouth 14 (Shipman 7).

Steals -- Oral Roberts 5 (Michalec 2), Monmouth 8 (Shipman 3).

Turnovers -- Oral Roberts 19 (Owens 6), Monmouth 18 (Delic 3, Coleman 3).

Blocked shots -- Oral Roberts 0, Monmouth 0.

Technical fouls -- Green, Oral Roberts.

Field-goal percentage -- Oral Roberts, 44.2, Monmouth 50.0.

Free-throw percentage -- Oral Roberts 62.5, Monmouth 71.4.

Officials -- Ronnie Hernandez, Bruce Corson, Terry Christman.

A -- 7,321 (tickets sold).

Oral Roberts 30 32 - 62

Monmouth 22 32 - 54

[Bogus Smith]

Here are some action shots from last night's game from the Associated Press published through the Anchorage Daily News.

http://www.adn.com/photos/alaskashootou ... _gallery_0

Enjoy!!