ORUTerry Posted March 6, 2007 Share Posted March 6, 2007 Mid-Con Tournament: Eagles land in finals Story Link by MIKE BROWN World Sports Writer 3/6/2007 Golden Eagles whip IUPUI in semifinals The only person in Oral Roberts blue and gold feeling pressure Monday night was school president Richard Roberts. ORU students started lobbying him to cancel Tuesday classes near the end of the Golden Eagles' 75-54 semifinal win over Indiana- Purdue in the Mid-Continent Conference tournament. "The kids were beating me up about calling off classes and then my own wife (Lindsay) turned on me (by signaling thumbs up to the student section)," Roberts said. "And I folded under the pressure." Now, the Eagles' most vocal fans will get a full day to prepare for what senior forward Caleb Green called "the biggest game for a lot of guys in ORU jerseys." Green and company will play for a second straight NCAA berth in Tuesday's 6 p.m. final to be televised on ESPN-25. The top-seeded Eagles will play second-seeded Oakland (Mich.), who beat sixth-seeded Missouri-Kansas City 83-79 later Monday night at the Union Multipurpose Activity Center. "We were off (Tuesday) anyway, but that's great for the fans," said Green, who scored 25 points in his second consecutive tournament game. "I wish they would have said something about no school Wednesday. But I think that was a great call by Mr. Roberts. Hopefully it will energize the UMAC." If the Eagles (22-10) felt any pressure that a loss would end their NCAA hopes, they turned all the heat on IUPUI (15-15) in the form of defensive pressure on shooters Austin Montgomery and Gary Patterson. Montgomery and Patterson were a collective 1-of-10 from the field in the first half. IUPUI missed its first 11 shots and made only 5-of-26 in opening half, allowing ORU to get off to a roaring start. The Eagles held IUPUI to its lowest-scoring half of the year, led 37-16 at the break and never allowed the lead to slip under 15 points in the second half. "Our guards got up on them early and I thought that was the key," said ORU coach Scott Sutton. "Patterson, Montgomery and (David) Barlow are three really good guards, and if you let 'em get going early, who knows how this game would have turned out." With Adam Liberty shadowing him, Patterson made only 3-of-9 from the field, 1-of-4 from 3-point range and scored 12 points. Patterson led all 3-pointer shooters in conference play. He made nine treys and scored a career-high 27 points in ORU's 83-73 win at IUPUI on Feb. 22. In addition to his work on Patterson, Liberty scored 11 points with five assists and five rebounds. He consistently drove the ball at the Jaguars. "I thought that's the best (Liberty) has played," Sutton said. "He pushed the ball hard and played aggressive with his dribble drives and penetration." The Jaguars had no answer for ORU's big men and the Golden Eagles kept sending the ball inside. Green scored 12 first-half points and Shawn King and Marchello Vealy each had eight. King finished with 14 points, tying a career high, and added eight rebounds and two blocked shots. Senior guard Ken Tutt scored 10 points, struggling from the field before hitting two second-half treys. Green scored 20 or more for the eighth consecutive game and moved closer to the Mid-Con career scoring record. He now has 2,462. The record is 2,488 by Missouri-Kansas City guard Michael Watson in 2000-04. ORU won over IUPUI for the third time in 2007 and beat the Jaguars in the tournament semifinals for the second time in three years. The Eagles' 21-point margin of victory was its second-largest in tournament history. The Eagles had a habit of letting big leads slip away in the regular season but have blown out two straight tourney foes. They beat Centenary 79-59 in the first round. "I think our guys have a sense of urgency," Sutton said. "I think Caleb and Ken understand this the last go-around. We can't allow a team to come back because you never know what can happen. One thing leads to another, and the next thing you know, you're in a game." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mike Brown 581-8390 mike.brown@tulsaworld.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Men?s semifinals Oral Roberts 75 IUPUI 54 Oakland 83 UMKC 79 Men?s championship Oral Roberts vs. Oakland (Mich.) 6 p.m. Tuesday ESPN-25 Women's semifinals Oakland 75 IUPUI 60 Oral Roberts 69 Valparaiso 63 Women?s championship Oakland (Mich.) vs. Oral Roberts 12:30 p.m. Tuesday ESPNU cable 253 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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