Semifinal fight to feature rivals - Tulsa World (3-6-06)

[ORUTerry]

Semifinal fight to feature rivals

By MIKE BROWN World Sports Writer

3/6/2006

ORU, Valpo finally at full strength for a tournament rematch.

Mid-Continent Conference basketball watchers might finally get the Oral Roberts-Valparaiso matchup they expected before the season started.

The teams were picked as the top contenders for the regular-season title, but neither was at full strength when it visited the other's court.

Valpo ripped the Golden Eagles 80-60 in Indiana on Jan. 9 and the Eagles returned the favor, 87-78, at the Mabee Center last weekend.

The Eagles feel better about things since getting injured guard Ken Tutt back in action and fourth-seeded Valpo looked more like itself in Sunday's 77-66 first-round win over Southern Utah in the Mid-Con Tournament.

The Eagles and Crusaders will meet a third time in the semifinals at 6 p.m. Monday, and ORU coach Scott Sutton expects a good show.

"It's going to be a battle, and hopefully this place will be electric," Sutton said. "I would be disappointed if it wasn't sold out. It'll be a great basketball game."

ORU and Valpo have beaten each other 11 times each, but Monday's game will transcend the rivalry.

"It's the second step (to the tournament title)," said Valpo coach Homer Drew. "We're not big on the rivalry. Each game stands on its own, as far as we're concerned. We know they were seeded No. 1, they've had an awful good run these last two years and they have a quality basketball team. They're deep, they're talented, they're quick and they've got Tutt back to shoot 3-pointers, and that makes it a difficult matchup."

Tutt, who missed 10 games with a broken foot, made the difference in ORU's 60-53 win over Western Illinois on Saturday night.

Valpo also had difference-makers miss much of the regular season, but guards Jimmie Miles and Jarryd Loyd seemed at full strength Sunday night and the Crusaders looked like a different team.

Loyd, who missed two of the past four games with strep throat, scored 14 second-half points, helping Valpo (18-11) break open the game in the final eight minutes.

Dan Oppland's 17 points led five Crusaders in double figures and 6-foot-11 Mohamed Kone blocked five shots, four in the second half. Kone neutralized Southern Utah center Lubor Olsovsky, who missed 10 of his 11 shots and finished with four points.

Drew called it "one of (Kone's) finest games. He's gotten better and better as the season's gone on, knowing when to jump and when not to. After he blocks a shot, (opponents) come in there and they know he's there and that presence helps us to alter a shot."

Both coaches said rebounding would be a key Monday -- Drew, because ORU led the league in rebounding, and Sutton, because WIU whipped the Eagles on the boards Saturday.

"They jump very well," Drew said, "so it will be a concern and a focus. We've got to be able to hold our own on the boards."

Said Sutton: "It's been one of our strengths all year. I'm sure that's the key for most teams when they play us, but we're going to have to do a better job than we did (against Western Illinois). (Valpo has) size and strength with Kone and (6-foot- Oppland and their guards are big."

ORU allowed 22 offensive rebounds against Western Illinois and had two fewer than its own 14-per-game average.

With size and experience, the Crusaders are arguably as capable as the Eagles, even though they finished five games behind ORU in the conference standings.

"This is a very talented, experienced basketball team. They have five seniors who have played a ton of games and were part of an NCAA Tournament team (in 2004), so they know what they're playing for."