ORU rallies past Southern Utah in Summit League opener
BY MIKE BROWN Tulsa World
Saturday, December 03, 2011
The Oral Roberts basketball team looked nothing like the preseason favorite for the Summit League title Saturday night.
Fortunately, for the Golden Eagles, they’re still undefeated in conference play after one game.
They had to rally from an eight-point deficit in the final 4:27 to pull out a 61-55 win over Southern Utah in both teams’ league opener before about 1,900 at the Mabee Center.
Damen Bell-Holter’s three-point play with 23.7 seconds left gave the Eagles their first lead since 13:27 remained, and Michael Craion made two foul shots after stealing the ball from Southern Utah’s Jackson Stevenett and being intentionally fouled.
ORU, which trailed 53-45 after Stevenett’s three-point play with 4:27 left, finished the game on a 16-2 run after scoring leader Dominique Morrison fouled out of the game.
The Eagles (6-2) beat Southern Utah for the 19th consecutive dating back to 2003 and extended their 2010-11 winning streak to six games.
Craion had 15 points and six rebounds, but Bell-Holter had 11 points and 11 rebounds in only his second game since missing five games with back issues.
ORU's next game is at Oklahoma at 7 p.m. Thursday.
Associated Images:
ORU's Steven Roundtree (left), Dominique Morrison (middle) and No.32 Damen Bell-Holter celebrate their win over Southern Utah. JAMES GIBBARD/Tulsa World
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