ORUTerry Posted March 1, 2007 Share Posted March 1, 2007 Oakland wants repeat by LYNN JACOBSEN World Sports Writer 3/1/2007 ORU's Golden Eagles will face No. 6 UMKC in the first round Saturday. Top-seed Oakland opens defense of its Mid-Continent Conference Tournament title Saturday with an opening-round game against No. 8 seed Centenary. First-day action also pits second-seeded Valparaiso against seventh-seeded Southern Utah. First-round action continues Sunday with No. 4 seed IUPUI opposite No. 5 seed Western Illinois at 12 p.m., followed by No. 3 seed Oral Roberts facing No. 6 seed UMKC. The Golden Eagles entered the regular season as the favorite to win the conference title, but injuries took their toll at the start of league play. Oral Roberts has won five of its last six games heading into the tournament. "We missed out on a huge opportunity to get 20 wins Monday night, but when you factor in last three weeks, it's pretty good," ORU coach Jerry Finkbeiner said. "It was a tough night. We're still trying to factor Jenny (Hardin) into the lineup. "We think we are one of the better teams in the league. Our heads are up going into the tournament." Upsets have been the norm throughout the last couple of weeks, and Monday night's win by UMKC is a perfect example. The Kangaroos traveled to Western Illinois and escaped with a 64-61 overtime win to earn the No. 6 seed in the tournament. "We were expecting to play Southern Utah, but UMKC pulled off the upset. We were a little surprised to hear we were playing them. We've all had a little hiccup the last couple of weeks." Semifinal action begins Monday with the championship finals set for Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. ESPNU (Cox cable 253) will televise the championship game. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lynn Jacobsen 581-8461 lynn.jacobsen@tulsaworld.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MID-CON TOURNAMENTS SCHEDULE Women's At the UMAC SATURDAY'S QUARTERFINALS Oakland, Mich. vs. Centenary, Noon Valparaiso vs. So. Utah State, 2:30 p.m. SUNDAY'S QUARTERFINALS IUPUI vs. Western Illinois, Noon Oral Roberts vs. UMKC, 2:30 p.m. MONDAY'S SEMIFINALS OU/CU winner vs. IUPUI/WIU winner, Noon VU/SUI vs. ORU/UMKC winner, 2:30 p.m. TUESDAY'S CHAMPIONSHIP Semifinal winners, 12:30 p.m., ESPNU Men's At the UMAC SATURDAY'S QUARTERFINALS Oral Roberts vs. Centenary, 6 p.m. Oakland, Mich. vs. Western Illinois, 8:30 p.m. SUNDAY'S QUARTERFINALS IUPUI vs. Southern Utah, 6 p.m. Valparaiso vs. UMKC, 8:30 p.m. MONDAY'S SEMIFINALS ORU/CU winner vs. IUPUI/SUI winner, 6 p.m. OU/WIU winner vs. VU/UMKC winner, 8:30 p.m. TUESDAY'S CHAMPIONSHIP Semifinal winners, 6 p.m., ESPN Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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