Shawn Glover shines in ORU exhibition game victory
BY JIMMIE TRAMEL World Sports Writer
Friday, November 02, 2012
11/02/12 at 4:34 AM
Related story: ORU basketball notebook: Health update.
Oral Roberts University basketball coach Scott Sutton made this observation after his team's 83-66 exhibition victory Thursday night over Missouri Southern: Shawn Glover didn't look like someone who hadn't played a game in a couple of years.
Glover, a 6-foot-7 junior transfer from Utah, was anything but rusty after sitting out a redshirt year last season. He scored 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting in his unofficial debut and Steven Roundtree added 21 points in fueling the Golden Eagles past an NCAA Division II opponent.
"He was terrific and I think showed why we have been so high on him for the last year," Sutton said in regard to Glover.
At one point during the exhibition opener, Sutton leaned toward his assistants and suggested Glover is close to being as good a scorer as the departed Dominique Morrison, who led the Golden Eagles in scoring last season and was the Summit League's player of the year.
Glover has been tagged as a possible breakout performer since exploding for 30 points in an intrasquad scrimmage last season. Asked about his 22-point coming-out party, he said, "It felt good. I was real excited and ready to play. I hope it carries on into the season."
Warren Niles and Korey Billbury scored 12 points each and senior post player Damen Bell-Holter produced six points and 15 rebounds, two shy of his career-high total in a 2010 game against Missouri.
Billbury, a redshirt freshman from Booker T. Washington, began preseason as ORU's fourth option at point guard. He started at point against Missouri Southern and, in addition to his 10-point flurry in the last 5:35, he collected six rebounds and three assists.
"I was really pleased with our new guys," Sutton said, indicating that Billbury and another redshirt freshman point guard, D.J. Jackson provided a great spark.
"We will get better and I think that's what is so exciting about this team. We have a very, very high ceiling because those young guys are going to continue to get better and better."
Sutton called it a typical exhibition, running down the good and bad things that surfaced during the course of the game. The "good" included a couple of big runs. The Golden Eagles scored 16 unanswered points early in the first half and had a 15-0 run early in the second half.
Missouri State - which qualified for the Division II NCAA Tournament last season - proved pesky enough to cut a 23-point margin to 12 four times in the second half.
Jordan Talbert, who led the Lions with 18 points, had a chance to cut the deficit to 10 with just under six minutes remaining, but his layup attempt was blocked by Glover.
Threat averted, the Golden Eagles will complete the exhibition season with a 7 p.m. Monday game against Oklahoma Wesleyan.
Oral Roberts 83, Missouri Southern 66
| Missouri Southern |
29 |
37 |
- |
66 |
| Oral Roberts |
37 |
46 |
- |
83 |
Missouri Southern: Talbert 18, Addison 14, Smith 7, Adams 6, Renfroe 6, Leverette 5, Everson 4, Atkinson 4, Cornelius 2.
ORU: Glover 22, Roundtree 21, Niles 12, Billbury 12, Bell-Holter 6, Jackson 5, Kaufman 4, Conley 1.
Original Print Headline: Glover shines in ORU's exhibition game win
Jimmie Tramel 918-581-8389
jimmie.tramel@tulsaworld.com
Associated Images:
ORU's Warren Niles (13) tries to get around Missouri Southern's Matt Everson (11) during an exhibition game at the ORU Mabee Center on Thursday. JAMES GIBBARD/Tulsa World
|
