ORU falls short in bid for comeback (TW)

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ORU falls short in bid for comeback

by Staff Reports

12/10/2006

Eagles cut Georgetown's lead to 10 but are doomed by missed shots.

Playing two good halves instead of one would have given Oral Roberts University a better chance of securing another trophy basketball win Saturday.

As it was, the Golden Eagles almost threw a scare into mighty Georgetown.

The Golden Eagles whittled a 20-point halftime deficit to a 10-point deficit with more than five minutes left.

But they missed seven of their last eight shots and Georgetown coasted to a 73-58 win at the Verizon Center.

"We talked about needing to get off to a good start and then we got off to another bad one," said ORU coach Scott Sutton. "I'm proud of the way we competed and played in the second half, but you can't spot a team 20 points in the first half."

Especially a team like Georgetown, projected to finish second in the Big East and contend for the national title. The Hoyas were No. 8 in the Associated Press preseason rankings after reaching the Sweet Sixteen last year.

ORU shot only 37 percent in the first half, lost 12 turnovers, fell behind 14-2 after an 11-0 Hoya run and trailed by as many as 22 points.

The 40-20 halftime deficit was ORU's largest since all-conference seniors Ken Tutt and Caleb Green started their careers three years ago.

"It's the same old story. We couldn't make shots and turned the ball over too many times," Sutton said.

A similar prescription has plagued most of ORU's games since upsetting Kansas on Nov. 15. Referring to that game, Georgetown fans chanted "We're no Kansas, we're no Kansas," in the closing seconds.

The Eagles had no answer for 7-foot-2 Roy Hibbert and 6-9 Jeff Green. The projected NBA lottery picks combined to score 38 points on 17-of-24 shooting -- with nine dunks between them -- as Georgetown (6-3) avenged its 2004 loss to the Eagles, who fell to 4-4.

Hibbert scored 15 of his game-high 23 points in the first half while driving 6-10 Shawn King and 6-7 Marchello Vealy into foul trouble. Each had three first-half fouls.

Tutt, Green and Vealy led the Eagles with 21, 15 and 10 points, respectively.

Tutt's 9-of-15 shooting was his best of the year. Green's double-figure game was his 37th in a row.

All of Vealy's points and 15 of Tutt's came in the second half, fueling the comeback.

ORU scored 10 of the first 12 points after intermission and cut the lead to 63-53 on Tutt's basket with 5:07 left.

The Eagles could have gotten closer on the next possession, but Kelvin Sango missed a 3-pointer and Yemi Ogunoye missed a tip.

Georgetown put the game out of reach by scoring the next six points.

ORU takes the week off for final exams before visiting Chattanooga (Tenn.) next Saturday.

The next home game is against Montana on Dec. 19.