ORU president honors champions at service - Tulsa World (3-8-2007)

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ORU president honors champions at service

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by MIKE BROWN World Sports Writer

3/8/2007

Richard Roberts proclaimed it Sutton, Finkbeiner day.

Oral Roberts University's basketball teams shared the limelight Wednesday, a day after winning respective men's and women's titles at the Mid-Continent Conference championships.

ORU president Richard Roberts recognized the teams, coaches and cheerleaders during the school's weekly Wednesday morning chapel service.

Roberts proclaimed Scott Sutton and Jerry Finkbeiner Day on campus, honoring his men's and women's head coaches, respectively. Then, he dismissed classes for the rest of the day.

Sutton guided the men's team to its second straight NCAA berth. Finkbeiner's women won their fourth berth in his nine years at the helm.

"It was a lot of fun and it was great to recognize both teams," Sutton said of the chapel service. "And I had a chance to tell the Mabee Maniacs how much we appreciated them for the way they supported us Tuesday night."

ORU's white-clad student section filled nearly an entire end-zone section and raised a deafening racket, helping the Eagles rally from an 11-point halftime deficit against Oakland.

"I really believe it would have been awfully hard to make that comeback without our crowd. Those students were really into the game and we fed off their energy," Sutton said.

Sutton said the Eagles deserve higher than a No. 16 seed when the pairings are announced Sunday.

ORU has a better record and higher ratings percentage index (91, according to collegeRPI.com) than last year when the Eagles received a 16 and played top-seeded Memphis in a first-round game.

"I'd be disappointed if we're not a 13 or a 14. I think we won't be a 16 and I'd be shocked if we're a 15. It depends on other conference tournaments whether we move up to 13, but we played an awfully difficult schedule," Sutton said.

"We've beaten Kansas and Seton Hall and had a couple of tough (overtime) losses to (to Oakland and Valparaiso in Mid-Con play). Those games were under some very similar circumstances with tough breaks at the end. If we had won those, we'd be perfect in the league and would have won 19 of our last 20."

CollegeRPI founder Jerry Palm said the Kansas win separates ORU from other teams likely to get a 16 seed.

Palm's site projects eight teams as making the tournament lower than ORU's 91 in the ratings percentage index.

CollegeRPI has ORU as a 14th seed, but its projection hasn't been updated since Monday. Two other projections have ORU at 14 and one at 15.

Finkbeiner said the women's team is likely to receive a No. 15 seed, although it could have been higher. The Eagles lost four conference games by four points or less.

"If we had won those games, we'd be at 26-6 and have a whole different window to look through," he said.

Women's pairings are announced Monday. For the first time in school history, both teams are going to a national tournament in the same year.

"We're just having a lot of fun with it right now," he said. "Not every mid-major school has both men's and women's teams going to postseason play, and we're just resting in that."

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Mike Brown 581-8390

mike.brown@tulsaworld.com