ORU posts win at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
BY Staff Reports
Friday, January 18, 2013
1/18/13 at 7:04 AM
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - During Damen Bell-Holter's first two weeks of Southland Conference competition, he averaged 23.5 points and 12.8 rebounds.
Oral Roberts' senior post player was slightly better than that Thursday night.
Bell-Holter continued to stamp himself as a conference player of the year candidate, collecting 27 points and 13 rebounds to power ORU to a 64-52 conquest of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at American Bank Center.
"Damen was obviously terrific the entire night," Golden Eagles coach Scott Sutton said after his team improved to 9-8 overall and 4-1 in league play.
Bell-Holter crafted a near-perfect shooting performance, making 8-of-9 field goal attempts and 11-of-12 free throws for his 16th career double-double and fourth in the last six games.
On the opposite end of the shooting spectrum, Warren Niles missed his first seven shots, but bounced back to score all of his 14 points after halftime.
Shawn Glover collected 12 points and nine rebounds, barely missing his second double-double this season. Mikey Manghum came off the bench to match a season-high with eight points.
They combined to help ORU move into a second-place tie (behind Stephen F. Austin) with Sam Houston State in the Southland standings. The Golden Eagles face the Bearkats in a Saturday road game. The survivor will gain sole ownership of second place.
Northwestern State, which entered Thursday on Stephen F. Austin's heels, fell to 4-2 in league play with a homecourt loss to Nicholls State.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi is not among Southland contenders. The Islanders fell to 2-13 overall and 1-4 in conference games.
But Sutton allowed himself to fret a bit about the trip to Corpus Christi because of how the Islanders were playing recently. They ended a 12-game losing streak Saturday, when they beat a Division I opponent (Lamar) for the first time this season.
Sutton's concern seemed merited when ORU settled for only a 25-23 halftime advantage.
"Warren Niles gets six of the best looks he has had in a long time and didn't knock any of them down," Sutton said.
Niles hit consecutive 3-pointers early in the second half and teamed with Bell-Holter to push ORU's advantage to 17 points.
After the game, Sutton expressed disappointment that his team "put it on cruise control again" instead of building on a lead. ORU gave up nine points in the first 14 minutes after halftime and 20 points in the game's last six minutes.
Southland basketball
Original Print Headline: Bell-Holter sparks ORU road win
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