ORUTerry Posted January 9, 2006 Share Posted January 9, 2006 Injury could sideline Tutt for six weeks By MIKE BROWN World Sports Writer 1/9/2006 Guard broke a bone in right foot in victory over Western Illinois. Winning at Valparaiso has been nearly impossible under more favorable conditions than the Oral Roberts basketball team will face Monday. The Golden Eagles (8-7, 3-0 Mid-Con) will be without one of their best players for an early Mid-Continent Conference showdown. Junior all-conference guard Ken Tutt injured his right foot in Saturday's win over Western Illinois and did not make Sunday's trip to Indiana. Coach Scott Sutton said Tutt, an 18.1-ppg career scorer, could miss up to six weeks, virtually the rest of the Mid-Con season, with a stress fracture of the fifth metatarsal, the bone on the outside of the foot. "I feel terrible for Ken. He's never missed a game and never missed a practice. He's been such a big part of this program, and for him to miss basically the conference season is tough on us, but I hate it for him," Sutton said. Valpo (8-4, 2-1) looks more like the team that won or shared nine Mid-Con titles in 10 years before injuries sabotaged the Crusaders last year and ORU won on their court for the first time in nine tries. Head coach Homer Drew added a shot-blocking menace in 6-foot-11 Mohamed Kone and has a healthy Ali Berdiel for the first time in two years. The 6-6 guard was a second-team all-league performer in 2003-04, but missed most of last season with a foot injury. Valpo has the league's third-and 12th-leading scorers in Dan Oppland (18.1 ppg) and Ron Howard (13.1 ppg), and so much depth at guard -- with Jarryd Loyd, Seth Colclasure and Jimmie Miles -- that Berdiel plays only half the time, averaging 6.6 points and 3.5 assists. Kone leads the league in blocked shots and is second in rebounding to ORU's Caleb Green with 8.5 per game. "Their frontcourt is very good with Howard, Oppland and Kone. They've got a lot of depth and a lot of pieces. They're a very good team," Sutton said. The game will be aired locally on Cox Cable 3 at 7:35 p.m., followed by a replay of the ORU-Valpo women's game. During its Mid-Con dominance, Valpo ran off a 70-9 home conference record in its Athletics-Recreation Center. ORU's 75-68 win last January was only the Crusaders' 10th conference home loss in 11 years. Green had 18 points and 13 rebounds and Tutt scored 16, but Andrew Meloy scored the most memorable baskets, coming off the bench to bury two clutch jump shots in the final 2:35. Meloy is sidelined by a December knee injury, but will sit with the team in street clothes. "Maybe he'll bring us some luck," Sutton said. Sophomore wingman Yemi Ogunoye will start for Tutt, and Sutton said he hoped senior Eric Fowlkes and sophomore Moses Ehambe are ready to help. "All three have played well at times, and we'll need all three of them to step up their games. I don't know if any one of them can take the place of Ken, but they all can help in their own way," Sutton said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest EagleBackr Posted January 9, 2006 Share Posted January 9, 2006 Well, NOW is it OK to lift Moses' redshirt, or are some of you going to say that it's still a waste?!? I guess this just proves how much we're missing LSG right now... (sometimes ya just gotta sit back, laugh, and put it all in God's hands...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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