By MIKE BROWN Sports Writer on Nov 29, 2011, at 1:19 AM Updated on 11/29 at 1:19 AM
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ORU center Damen Bell-Holter is sounding more and more confident that he will return to uniform.
The 6-foot-9 junior has practiced each of the last three days and said his back is feeling better.
Both he and coach Scott Sutton were optimistic that Bell-Holter would play for the first time in six games when Missouri State visits on Wednesday night.
“That’s the plan,” Bell-Holter said. “I practiced the whole time Saturday and the whole time Sunday, so the back is getting better and better.”
Bell-Holter did admit to having soreness in his hips after Sunday’s session at the Mabee Center. But he said it was probably because he has had little strenuous activity since playing briefly in the Nov. 11 season opener at West Virginia.
Sutton is hopeful that Bell-Holter will return to play against unbeaten Missouri State, but said he won’t push it.
“I think it’s gonna be a gametime decision,” Sutton said. “We’ll see how he feels Wednesday, but if we don’t get the OK from the doctors and (team trainer John Joslin), we’ll just keep him down because obviously the most important thing is to have him ready for the two months when we play most of our conference games.”
ORU opens Summit League play hosting Southern Utah on Saturday, but the bulk of the conference schedule is a month way.
Bell-Holter started having back spasms during the last week of October. An MRI showed that he had an inflammation similar to a herniated disc.
He received an injection to soothe the inflammation and was able to practice leading up to the opener, but the back stiffened up before the game in Morgantown, W.Va., and Bell-Holter played a total of eight minutes.
-- Mike Brown
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