ORU edges Western Illinois in double overtime
BY Staff Reports
Friday, January 13, 2012
1/13/12 at 4:21 AM
MACOMB, Ill. - The Oral Roberts basketball team has had some tough basketball games at Western Illinois in the past.
"And those were nothing like this one," ORU coach Scott Sutton said.
In a game that saw 18 ties and two overtimes, the Golden Eagles were finally the team left standing Thursday night in Western Hall.
Dominique Morrison's foul shot with 1.4 seconds left in the second overtime gave the Eagles a nerve-wracking 71-70 win to stay unbeaten in Summit League play.
Morrison finished with a game-high 27 points, his seventh straight game with 20 or more.
ORU improved to 15-4 overall and 7-0 in the league, extended its winning streak to eight games and scissored a three-game streak by the Leathernecks (9-6, 4-3), who are off to their best start in 10 years.
"This was a hard-fought victory and I couldn't be more proud of our guys," Sutton said. "We didn't play great or shoot it very well, but we found a way to win, and that's a good team we beat tonight. They're well coached and they defend better than anybody in our league. We'll take it and get out of here."
ORU erased a nine-point second-half deficit, almost lost at the end of regulation when WIU's Ceola Clark missed a breakaway layup, blew a chance to win in the first overtime, and trailed five times by a field goal in the second overtime before coming back to tie each time.
"We just had to keep thinking 'tie the game and get a stop,'" Morrison said.
Morrison's basket tied the game at 70 with 1:12 left, and ORU had a chance to win when Morrison rebounded Jack Houpt's miss with 47 seconds left.
In the waning seconds, Morrison tried a fadeaway jumper from the left side and WIU's Obi Emegano fouled him on the wrist. Emegano, a freshman from Edmond, led the Leathernecks with 17 points.
Morrison made the first foul shot, missed the second on purpose, and Emegano rebounded and WIU got a timeout with nine-tenths of a second left. But Tommie Tyler's long inbounds pass from under the ORU basket went untouched, and when the Eagles inbouned, the game was over.
ORU, which visits IUPUI at 6 p.m. Saturday, stayed one game ahead of second-place South Dakota State, which ripped South Dakota 86-56 Thursday.
Morrison lost the ball near the end of regulation and Clark raced the other way with it for what appeared to be a winning layup. But ORU's Rod Pearson sprinted back and caused Clark to miss as time ran out.
In the first overtime, the Eagles led 60-58 when Tyler made two foul shots with 12 seconds left.
Steven Roundtree had 12 points and eight rebounds for the Eagles, and Michael Craion added 10 points and Warren Niles scored nine.
Original Print Headline: Morrison lifts ORU to wild 2OT win
Up next
At IUPUI
6 p.m. Saturday
Radio: KYAL am1550
Associated Images:
Morrison
|
