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ORU outlasts NSU - Tulsa World (11-13-05)


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ORU outlasts NSU

By MIKE BROWN World Sports Writer

11/13/2005

Eagles build big first-half lead, thwart second-half Redmen rally

The Oral Roberts University basketball team showed how not to play the game in Saturday's 76-65 win over Northeastern (Okla.) State.

Before 4,156 at the Mabee Center, the Golden Eagles got outhustled, outrebounded and outscored in the second half. After trailing by as many as 25 points, the NCAA Division II Redmen cut the lead to 70-63 with 3:26 left as Bret Ruben scored 13 of his 21 points in the second half.

The final verdict wasn't certain until Larry Owens rebounded Lamont George's miss and took the ball the length of the floor for a layup that made it 74-63 with 1:36 left.

"We didn't play hard. We need to play 40 minutes like (the first half), but we didn't do that," said Caleb Green, who led the Eagles with 20 points and 11 rebounds.

ORU made eight of its first nine shots and scored the game's first 14 points. NSU didn't score until Pat Moore's basket almost seven minutes in. The Eagles led by 25 on two occasions in the first half before settling for a 49-27 lead at intermission.

The second half was night-and-day different. ORU missed its first six shots and NSU mounted a 12-2 run to get back in the game. ORU coach Scott Sutton got so disgusted with the play of his starting five that he substituted his second five with about 15 minutes left.

That group didn't do much better than the first. NSU clawed to within 58-50 on a basket by Ruben with 9:18 left. Sutton put his starting five back in and Green scored eight of the Eagles' next 10 points, lifting the lead to 68-53 with 5:40 left, but NSU wasn't done. The Redmen quickly outscored the Eagles 10-2 and it was 70-63, but Green followed by scoring with his own miss, and Owens' layup pushed the lead out of reach.

"It really was an embarassing effort in the second half, after what I thought was a really good first half. I thought we really well in all phases in the first half," Sutton said.

"We'll get their attention this week. We'll have to play better and we'll have to sustain our effort for 40 minutes, or we're not going to beat good basketball teams. We'll beat teams on our schedule, because we're talented and have good players, but unless we sustain our intensity for 40 minutes, some of these teams we're not going to beat, and it starts Saturday," Owens said.

The Golden Eagles open the regular season hosting Utah State next Saturday. The Aggies return four starters and five lettermen from their 24-8 squad of last season when they won the Big West Conference tournament and went to the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in six years. Utah State joined the Western Athletic Conference this season and were picked to finish second in the WAC.

Green and nine other players scored for ORU, but Ken Tutt was the only player in double figures with two 3-pointers among his 10 points.

Marchello Vealy and senior Mickey Michalec scored nine points each, Chris Riouse scored eight and Owens had seven points, three assists, a steal and two blocked shots.

Mark Brown 581-8343

mark.brown@tulsaworld.com

Oral Roberts 76, Northeastern 65

NORTHEASTERN STATE

Min FG 3pt FT Reb

O-T F Pt.

Turner,f 18 3-4 0-0 1-2 3-7 3 7

Moore,f 23 3-7 0-0 3-4 0-2 2 9

George,g 30 3-11 2-6 2-4 1-3 2 10

Melvin,g 20 0-4 0-3 0-0 0-1 0 0

Merchant,g 17 1-1 0-0 0-0 0-2 2 2

Williams 8 0-1 0-0 0-0 1-1 0 0

White 13 1-2 0-0 4-4 0-3 2 6

Dennis 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0

Hopkins 10 0-2 0-0 0-0 0-1 2 0

Rovenstine 21 3-4 1-1 1-1 0-1 2 8

Ruben 23 9-13 3-5 0-0 3-6 0 21

Smith 16 1-4 0-0 0-0 1-2 1 2

TEAM 3-4

TOTAL 24-53 6-17 11-15 12-33 16 65

Assists -- Moore 4, George 2, Merchant 2, Smith 2, Hopkins 1, Rovenstine 1. Blocks -- Moore 1. Turnovers -- George 3, White 3, Turner 2, Melvin 2, Hopkins 2, Rovenstine 1, Ruben 1, Smith 1. Steals -- George 2, Melvin 1, Merchant 1, White 1, Ruben 1

Technical fouls -- White 1

ORAL ROBERTS

Min FG 3pt FT Reb

O-T F Pt.

Owens, f 21 3-6 1-2 0-0 1-2 2 7

Green,f 23 6-12 0-0 8-9 4-11 2 20

Michalec,c 17 4-9 0-0 1-2 4-7 4 9

Tutt,g 26 4-12 2-5 0-0 1-1 0 10

Bluitt,g 23 1-1 1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3

Riouse 14 3-6 2-5 0-0 0-0 0 8

Vealy 19 3-4 1-1 1-3 0-1 2 9

Fowlkes 17 2-3 1-1 2-2 0-1 2 6

Meloy 14 1-6 0-2 0-0 1-2 0 0

Spicer 3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 0

Ogunoye 23 1-2 0-0 0-0 0-2 0 2

TEAM 0-1

TOTAL 28-61 8-17 12-16 11-29 17 76

Assists -- Bluitt 5, Fowlkes 4, Owens 3, Green 1, Michalec 1, Tutt 1. Blocks -- Owens 2, Michalec 1, Riouse 1, Vealy 1. Turnovers -- Bluitt 2, Owens 1, Green 1, Michalec 1, Fowlkes 1, Ogunoye 1. Steals -- Green 3, Owens 1, Bluitt 1, Fowlkes 1, Meloy 1, Ogunoye 1. Technical fouls -- Green 1

Northeastern State 27 28 -- 65

Oral Roberts 49 27 -- 76

Attendance -- 4,156

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The headline to the story is a bit much....

Also notice that they can't even get the name of their own reporter correct; see the end of the story. Hey editor - it's MIKE Brown not Mark Brown!!!

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Guest Rob Marshall

NSU is well coached and they showed much heart after spotting ORU a 14-0 lead to battle back into the game. If they played in Tulsa, I'd go watch that team play more than just last night.

I'm proud of Coach Sutton for benching the starters for their pathetic effort in the second half, and other than Green, I wish he would have left the starters on the bench for the rest of the game. Winning this game by 35, 11, or 2 points is insignificant to ORU's long term success, and it took a head coach secure in himself to bench his starters.

Fowlkes' had four assists and one turnover, and if Maloy hits a couple more of his open looks Eric would have had six assists to one turnover. Yes, his left is weaker than I'd like to see it, but the more minutes he plays the more confident he will become with it.

A line-up I'd like to see play several minutes together next Saturday is Fowlkes, Tutt, Owens, Green, and Ogunoye.

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