ORUTerry Posted February 5, 2006 Share Posted February 5, 2006 Foul sparks Eagles in victory By MIKE BROWN World Sports Writer 2/5/2006 A technical on coach Scott Sutton helped turn Oral Roberts around. It took a technical foul on head coach Scott Sutton, but Oral Roberts University finally overcame Chicago State's deliberate, slow-playing, rope-a-dope basketball style. Caleb Green scored some of the toughest 25 points of his career as the Eagles pulled away to a 69-58 win over the Cougars to stay one-half game behind first-place Indiana-Purdue in the Mid-Continent Conference. Sutton gave official Todd Williams an earful after Williams called Eric Fowlkes for fouling CSU's David Holston with 8:01 left and the Eagles clinging to an eight-point lead. Three foul shots by Holston trimmed the lead to five, but the technical seemed to energize the Eagles and they scored the next six points to make it 59-48, and CSU couldn't get closer than seven the rest of the way. Green, getting fouled almost every time he handled the basketball, made just 4-of-10 from the field, but tied a school record by making 17-of-19 foul shots, including the first 16 in a row. "It was a little physical out there. At one point, I thought it was going to get out of hand, but that's how basketball goes. I guess it was just an adrenalin rush with the emotions going on both sides," Green said. He took a hard spill when CSU's Kourtney Calvin knocked him to the floor on a drive. Green came up glaring at Calvin, and players from both teams moved in to keep them apart. "I doubt it was intentional because they are a classy program, but nobody from Chicago State was coming over to help me up from the floor," Green said. Green also had 10 rebounds, notching his 11th double-double of the season. Larry Owens chipped in 11 points, five rebounds, five assists and three blocked shots. ORU (14-9, 9-2) again got big production off the bench in the form of 22 points. Andrew Meloy scored seven in the final 10 minutes of the first half, helping the Eagles build a 34-20 intermission lead, and Moses Ehambe scored six of his eight points in the second half on two 3-pointers. The Eagles ran their winning streak to a season-long four games. Holston scored 15 of his team-high 17 points in the second half, hitting four 3-pointers to pace the Cougars (4-16, 3-6). ORU extended its series lead over Chicago State to 16-2, including 9-0 at the Mabee Center. ORU's last three wins were blowouts, but Chicago State stayed in the game by using most of every 35-second clock before attacking the basket. "Every time they play us, they slow down the tempo," Green said. "They're a smart team. They know that when you limit possessions, it's going to hold down the score." Sutton was disappointed the Eagles didn't play better in the second half after outscoring the Cougars 16-2 over the final 5:45 of the first half to build their commanding lead. "When you get a team down 14 or 16 points, you need to put them away," he said. "One of these games, it's going to cost us to come out flat in the second half and let (the opponent) hang around, where it's anybody's game with five or six minutes left. That's what knocked us out of the conference tournament last year." Sutton said he didn't get a rare home technical by design, but the Eagles needed an emotional boost. He said he was trying to explain to Williams that the lightning-quick Holston was actually holding Fowlkes, and not the other way around. "It's the oldest trick in the book. I asked (Williams) if he had ever played basketball before," Sutton said. Holston made three foul shots, but missed the fourth and ORU scored the next six points. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
praetorfenix86 Posted February 5, 2006 Share Posted February 5, 2006 I loved the part where Sutton said "I asked (Williams) if he had ever played basketball before." I can imagine Sutton saying that, but maybe in not such a polite way. To get a T he might have been a little more caustic in the way he said it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmh8286 Posted February 5, 2006 Share Posted February 5, 2006 "I doubt it was intentional because they are a classy program, but nobody from Chicago State was coming over to help me up from the floor," Green said. Is there a word in English that means that you say one thing but it's obvious that you mean the opposite? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmh8286 Posted February 5, 2006 Share Posted February 5, 2006 Sutton said he didn't get a rare home technical by design, Disappointment. I really thought he did it on purpose, although there weren't many theatrics involved (unlike Homer Drew's dramatic T's). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8EL3K6 Posted February 5, 2006 Share Posted February 5, 2006 I'm a huge fan of coaches getting t'd up no matter what. It's just good times all around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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