First Round Jitters - now I can exhale

[orumom]

Waiting for the game to be over to exhale is probabaly the best description I can give of how I felt today. In my heart I was optimistic, but afraid to trust my heart.

How we shot 39% and won is a miracle. At least they only shot 32%. Now the team should be past those first round jitters & ready to pay some solid ball.

After the game I talked to some of the players. Mickey was really frustrated with his 10%fg. He has been sick all week and still can barely talk. Chello's stats looked good, just not a lot of minutes. Moses was itchey to play more.

(For any of you that know Becky or Charles Swick, one of Becky's vocal cords snapped while she was cheering for ORU at the Chicago State game & she is still waiting to get into the surgeon to get scheduled. In the mean time she can't talk at all. Please keep her in your prayers)

See you Monday night!!!

BOX SCORES

http://www.orugoldeneagles.com/doc_lib/ ... 0Score.pdf

TULSA?Ken Tutt (Garland, Texas) tied a season high with 29 points, and Oral Roberts University made 8-of-8 from the free throw line in the final 32 seconds for a 60-53 quarterfinal win over Western Illinois in the Toshiba Mid-Continent Conference Tournament, Saturday at John Q. Hammons Arena.

Tutt was 9-of-14 from the field, including 3-of-6 from 3-point range, and made all eight of his free throw attempts. He was the only player on either team with more than 10 attempts to shoot over 50 percent on a night when the two teams combined to shoot just over 35 percent for the game.

In a first half which featured four ties and two lead changes, neither team could establish itself for long. Western (7-21) led 11-6 on a free throw by NaVonta Kentle with 9:28 left in the half, but ORU (19-11) responded with a 5-0 run, tying the game at 11-11 on a layup by Tutt with 8:52 left.

Western grabbed a 20-16 lead on a 3-pointer by Chris Gonzalez with 2:52 left, but ORU closed the half on a 9-1 run for a 25-21 halftime lead.

ORU struggled to break away from the Leathernecks in the second half, but managed to build a 9-point lead when Caleb Green (Tulsa, Okla.) capped a 6-0 burst with a layup at 12:57 for a 38-29 lead. But Western responded, trimming the Golden Eagles' advantage to 39-38 on a layup by David Jackson with 9:00 to go.

Marchello Vealy's (Oklahoma City, Okla.) layup gave ORU a 41-38 lead with 7:42, and Green rebounded Vealy's missed free throw and laid it in for a 43-38 advantage. A Tutt trey less than a minute later made it 46-38 with 6:52 left.

Western pulled to within four points three times in the final four minutes, the last time when Fred Oguns' layup with 39 seconds left made it 52-48. But Tutt and Green were perfect from the line the rest of the way as ORU pulled out the win.

Green finished the game with 14 points and 14 rebounds, his league-leading 14th double-double of the season. He and Tutt were the only Golden Eagles to reach double digits in scoring as ORU shot just 39.2 percent for the game. Larry Owens (Mesa, Ariz.) grabbed 10 rebounds.

ORU saved itself at the line, sinking 17-of-25 compared to just 8-of-20 for Western.

Jackson led the Leathernecks with 20 points. Oguns added 11 and Eliz Cepeda pulled down a team-high 12 rebounds.

The Golden Eagles get to take Sunday off and will face either Valparaiso or Southern Utah at 6 p.m., Monday.

--ORU?

Game Notes: Green's double-double was his league-leading 14th of the season and the 45th of his career ? Green also extended his double-figures scoring streak to 26 games ? Tutt's 29 points tied his season high, set Dec. 20th at Utah State ? ORU is now 18-2 when leading at halftime ? the Golden Eagles won for just the fifth time this season when scoring under 70 points ? ORU is 7-2 all-time in Mid-Con Tournament first round games.