0-for-2 for OU Men lose after leading by 11 at halftime - Oakland Press

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0-for-2 for OU Men lose after leading by 11 at halftime

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Web-posted Mar 7, 2007

By CRYSTAL EVOLA

Of The Oakland Press

TULSA, Okla. - Oakland University coach Greg Kampe expected to see a close, hardfought championship game. He got what he expected, but not the result he wanted. Top-seeded Oral Roberts University needed every minute on the clock to battle back from a double-digit defi cit and pull out a nail-biting 71-67 victory over No. 2 seed Oakland and claim a second straight Mid-Continent Conference tournament title Tuesday at the John Q. Hammons Arena.

A second half marred by shooting struggles and turnovers denied OU a chance of making its second NCAA tournament appearance in three seasons.

The Golden Eagles (23-10) and the conference's alltime leading scorer, Caleb Green, get to enjoy the thrill of March Madness instead.

ORU completed a sweep in a "neutral" arena that was overwhelmingly dominated by Eagles fans, where the ORU women also claimed the tourney title over OU earlier in the day.

The Grizzlies (19-14) came close to going 1-1 on the day, but they were unable to get that final shot to fall when the game was on the line.

"I thought the Mid-Con would look very, very good on national TV tonight," Kampe said. "I think it was one heck of a basketball game."

Sophomore Erik Kangas shot an eye-popping 6-for-8 from 3-point range in the fi rst half to rack up 20 points and guide OU to a 45-34 lead at the break.

"I had it going," Kangas said. "I was just trying to do what I could to help the team win."

But Kangas was shut out in the second half, a major factor in ORU's comeback.

Ken Tutt opened up the second half with a 3-pointer to spark a 17-5 run that gave ORU and the crowd a huge lift.

Neither team made it easy on the other since no one was able to grab a lead of more than six points in the fi nal 15 minutes.

Shawn Hopes missed a free throw that would have given OU a one-point edge with 58 seconds left, and ORU took advantage.

Tutt responded with a jumper with 33 seconds left that proved to be the difference maker.

Kangas had a wide-open look at a 3-pointer with 19 seconds left, but the ball hit the rim and bounced out of bounds to turn the ball back over to Oral Roberts.

Kangas was 0-for-5 from behind the arc in the second half to finish a pair of 3-pointers short of matching the Mid-Con tournament record of eight, which was set in 1995.

"I think they were just being a little more physical, pushing me through the screens," said Kangas, who was named to the all-tournament team.

Kangas wasn't the only one to struggle in the final 20 minutes.

The Grizzlies were 6-for-27 from the field (22 percent) after intermission. By comparison, Oral Roberts was 17-for-28 (61 percent).

OU also committed seven of its nine turnovers in the second half. Not a good time for miscues.

"I think (Shawn) King came over and might have blocked 37 shots in a row it seemed like at one point," Kampe said. "And I think that discouraged us a little bit from getting at the basket. We shot 22 percent in the second half. You can't win a championship doing that."

Senior Vova Severovas had 22 points and seven rebounds to lead OU and earn recognition on the all-tournament team.

"I think it was an OK season," Severovas said. "We did not reach many of the goals that we set and did not win a championship and the tournament, so it's a little disappointing to end the season like this."

Green, the three-time conference player of the year, scored 28 points to earn the tournament MVP honor and became the Mid-Con's all-time leading scorer with 2,490 career points.

Tutt ended up with 2,003 for his time at ORU. They are just the seventh set of teammates to reach the 2,000-point plateau in NCAA history.