Eagles need a win in Valpo rematch - TW (2-25-06)

[ORUTerry]

Eagles need a win in Valpo rematch

By MIKE BROWN World Sports Writer

2/25/2006

Victory may keep ORU in contention for Mid-Con's No. 1 seed.

A dozen seniors will play their last regular-season college basketball game Saturday night at the Mabee Center.

Oral Roberts University wants to send half of them out on a winning note.

The Golden Eagles can still share the Mid-Continent Conference title as Valparaiso visits for a 7:05 p.m. contest to be televised on Cox cable 3.

If ORU wins and Indiana-Purdue loses at Southern Utah, the Eagles would tie for the title and nab the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament, which opens next Saturday at the Union Multipurpose Activity Center.

The top seed would also be assured of a berth in the National Invitation Tournament if it doesn't reach the NCAA Tournament. That was one of the changes announced in the NIT format last week.

"I've grown up a lot since I came here," said ORU senior forward Larry Owens. "I didn't want Senior Day to come, but it has to come and I'm going to have to face it."

The Eagles will honor Owens, Jonathan Bluitt, Mickey Michalec, Chris Riouse, Andrew Meloy and Eric Fowlkes in a postgame ceremony.

"You hate to see those guys go," said junior forward Caleb Green, "but they've had wonderful careers here at Oral Roberts. They deserve to go out with a bang."

Green won't be sorry to see Valpo's six seniors go, especially Dan Oppland, Ron Howard and Ali Berdiel.

The trio combined for 52 points and 17 rebounds in an 80-60 win over the Eagles on Jan. 9. That game might have been closer, but ORU played without injured Ken Tutt for the first time.

The two-time all-conference guard had broken his foot two days before. Tutt has since returned to action -- he scored 16 points in Thursday's 83-57 win at Centenary -- and the Eagles have developed better depth.

But ORU may play Valpo short-handed. Bluitt, the school's fourth-leading career assist maker, aggravated a week-old ankle injury at Centenary.

Coach Scott Sutton said he will make game-time decisions on Bluitt and freshman Marchello Vealy, who injured an ankle Tuesday and did not travel to Centenary.

Valpo was locked out of third place with Thursday's loss at Missouri-Kansas City. But the Crusaders would like nothing better than to deny the Eagles. And, they need to learn how to win in Tulsa. The Crusaders are 0-9 against ORU at the Mabee Center and lost a first-round game in last year's Mid-Con tourney at the UMAC.

Michalec said the Eagles' entire focus is on getting better for the conference tournament.

"Obviously, Valparaiso is a huge rivalry, but more important than beating them, we just have to focus on being the best team we can be," he said.

Saturday will be special for Fowlkes. His parents, sister and brother-in-law from Milwaukee, Wisc., will watch him play in Tulsa for the first time.

Meloy, granted an extra year of eligibility by the NCAA, will go through Senior Day for the second time. He returned the framed jersey presented to him last year so he can receive it again. Meloy has re-applied to the University of Tulsa College of Law, where he was previously accepted. Most of ORU's other seniors hope to continue their basketball careers overseas.

But the 6-foot-11 Michalec said he isn't looking past March.

"Right now, I just want to get to the NCAA Tournament," he said. "That's the most important thing in my life and I think that goes for everyone on this team."