ORU basketball notebook: Homecoming

BY MIKE BROWN World Sports Writer
Sunday, February 12, 2012
2/12/12 at 7:00 AM

Western Illinois freshman Obi Emegano, who led Edmond Memorial to last year's Class 6A championship, had numerous friends and family members in the audience for his first Oklahoma appearance as a collegian.

Emegano went 1-for-6 from the field in the first half, hitting his only 3-point attempt, and 1-for-2 from the line to finish with four first-half points. He finished with six points, three rebounds, two assists, four turnovers and a steal.

He entered the game as Western Illinois' leading scorer, averaging 14.3 points per game.

Down, but not out: ORU senior guard Rod Pearson, hero of Thursday's 76-74 win over IUPUI with his last-second shot, went down in pain and appeared to be favoring his left knee with 18:16 left. Pearson left the arena under his own power, but returned and re-entered the game with 14:12 left.

As advertised: WIU guard Ceola Clark made his first five 3-point attempts of the second half, shooting the Leathernecks back from a six-point halftime deficit to leads of 32-31 and 40-39. Clark went into the game third in Summit League 3-point percentage (.470, 62-for-132).

Give me five: Damen Bell-Holter's intentional foul on Terell Parks with 18:25 left resulted in a five-point play by the Leathernecks.

Parks was called for a technical on the play and ORU's Dominique Morrison made two foul shots, giving the Eagles a 27-21 lead. But that didn't last long.

Parks hit two foul shots and the Leathernecks retained possession because of the intentional foul. Clark drained the first of his second-half 3-pointers and ORU's lead was 27-26.

Big house: A homecoming crowd of 8,617 was the second-largest of the season. The Eagles drew 9,005 for Oakland on Jan. 21; 8,064 for Texas Tech on Dec. 22; and 6,850 for UMKC on Jan. 28.

Smooth moves: A flying dunk by WIU's Terell Parks with Emegano's 35-foot alley-oop pass was one for the highlight reels. ... ORU's Steven Roundtree drove the lane, then wrapped a pass around two defenders to Michael Craion for a layin.... ORU's Damen Bell-Holter hit a left-handed jump hook from the lane. The 6-foot-9 center is right-handed. ... ORU's Warren Niles snapped a one-handed pass from far out on the wing to Roundtree barreling down the lane for an easy basket.

Associated Images:

ORU's Michael Craion battles for a loose ball along the sideline with Western Illinois' Terrell Parks during Saturday's game. SHANE BEVEL / For the Tulsa World