Now ORU can put Oakland loss to bed - TW (1-20-06)

[ORUTerry]

Now ORU can put Oakland loss to bed

By JOHN KLEIN Senior Sports Columnist

1/20/2006

The loss to Oakland last spring should be nothing more than a distant, nightmarish memory for Oral Roberts.

Time to let it go. Forget it.

This is a different season. Different players. Far different teams.

Letting it go allows Oral Roberts to concentrate on the here and now.

The Golden Eagles couldn't put it completely out of their minds, but they did more than enough to run away from Oakland (Mich.) 74-63 Thursday night at the Mabee Center.

"I'm pretty sure it was on everyone's mind," said Larry Owens of last year's devastating loss. "It was such a tough thing. It is hard to forget."

ORU star Caleb Green said it is one of those games that will linger forever.

"When you get beat with such a crushing blow, it is tough," Green said. "But it was not a factor in this game.

"This is a whole different team. It has a completely different character. You don't forget, but this is a different year."

Oakland is the team that hit a shot at the buzzer that sent heavily favored ORU to the NIT instead of the NCAA Tournament last spring.

It may have been one of the most difficult moments in ORU athletic history.

The Golden Eagles were on the verge of going to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 20 years. Oakland hit a miracle from the corner at the buzzer.

Forget the revenge factor. Thursday's game was just another step in ORU's bid to put itself back in a position to grab that elusive NCAA invite.

"I just don't think the revenge factor was there," said ORU coach Scott Sutton. "Oakland has so many new players. It was a whole different team. The key parts of that game a year ago were not here for this game.

"We talked to our guys this week about that game, but we never talked about revenge. We never said we owe them one or something like that."

But the Golden Grizzlies that came to Oral Roberts were a whole new crew. All five Oakland starters were not in Tulsa last spring for the Mid-Continent Conference Tournament.

"All of our guys are new, so that was last year," said Oakland coach Greg Kampe. "I'm sure their guys are thinking more about this year."

If so, and it appears ORU is concentrating on what's happening now, then the Golden Eagles are getting back on the road to being the Mid-Con favorite.

Oral Roberts is back, with most of the key players from last year's team, and is again starting to hit its stride.

As Green said, it would be almost impossible to wipe out the memory of such a difficult loss. Still, the Eagles seem to be returning to where many felt they would be this year.

Sutton believes they've been playing well for about a month. He believes it started with the loss at Utah State, a heartbreaker at the buzzer.

Then, ORU followed with a last-minute loss at Oklahoma and a competitive loss at Minnesota.

The Eagles are 5-1 since getting into Mid-Con play.

The sole loss, at Valparaiso, was ORU's fifth game in 10 days -- four on the road. Plus, it came less than 48 hours after ORU learned deluxe shooter Ken Tutt would be out up to six weeks with a foot injury.

"There were a lot of factors that contributed to our performance in that game," Sutton said. "But I'm very happy with the way we've been playing for about a month."

The Golden Eagles hit a season-high nine 3-pointers against Oakland. Jonathan Bluitt knocked down four treys.

Plus, Larry Owens also had a big night with 21 points.

With Oakland sagging in on Caleb Green, who had 17, it opened up for Owens and Bluitt.

"That's the way we've got to play," Sutton said.

And, forget about any of that revenge stuff. Winning in March will take care of it.