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ORU's strategy nearly backfired
Pearson saves Golden Eagles after foiled foul ploy.

Rod Pearson (left) hit a last-second jumper to stun Drew Shiller and the Cardinal. MARCIO JOSE SANCHEZ / Associated Press
 
By MIKE BROWN World Sports Writer
Published: 11/20/2009  2:24 AM
Last Modified: 11/20/2009  7:08 AM

 Head coach Scott Sutton said a deliberate foul in the closing seconds of Oral Roberts University's 83-81 win at Stanford on Wednesday night "almost backfired on us."

It allowed the Cardinal to erase a three-point deficit in a matter of seconds to tie the game. But ORU junior guard Rod Pearson saved the day with his 18-foot running jump shot as time expired for the winning basket.

"We've lost so many games where teams have hit 3's to tie (or win) the game, that we decided to foul early, and it almost backfired on us, but we were able to hit the great shot at the end," Sutton said.

One of the most vivid examples in recent memory was the 65-64 BracketBusters loss to Creighton in 2008 when Booker Woodfox drained a late trey to erase ORU's two-point lead.

ORU led Stanford 81-78 after Michael Craion's two foul shots with 9.4 seconds left. Rather than allow the Cardinal to try a potential tying 3-pointer, Pearson fouled on instructions from the bench.

Jarrett Mann made his first foul shot with 6.9 seconds and rebounded the missed second shot. After a timeout, Landry Fields scored with Mann's inbounds pass and the game was tied.

But the Eagles hustled the ball in and Pearson streaked to the other end to make his winning shot. Apparently, he got as close as he did because Stanford players were reluctant to risk fouling him.

Sutton said it was a big moment for Pearson, who has been struggling to regain top form in his first action since transferring from Southeast Missouri State after the 2007-08 season.

"I think it's huge for his confidence to hit an unbelievable shot like that, and I thought it showed something early in the second half when he got fouled on a 3-point shot and made all three free throws," Sutton said.

"He's probably still a little rusty, but our guys know how good he is from playing pickup games with him every day of the summer and they understand it's only a matter of time," Sutton said.

ORU's biggest out-of-conference win since beating Oklahoma State 74-59 on Dec. 20, 2007 was also big for the Summit League, which relies on occasional wins over BCS-member schools to enhance its standing among the nation's conferences. Never mind that Stanford is picked to finish last in the Pac-10.

"That was a great win for ORU and our league," Summit League commissioner Tom Douple said.

With additional wins over Wyoming (by South Dakota State) and Drake (IUPUI), the Summit League was 19th out of 32 conference in Thursday's Sagarin computer ratings.

An Associated Press photo posted on the Summit League's Web site showed Pearson strutting around the court, thrusting out his chest while being congratulated by teammates.

ORU marketing director Mike Minyard said tickets for the Dec. 9 home game with Missouri will go on sale Friday.

Tickets can be ordered online at tulsaworld.com/orusports or tulsaworld.com/mabee over the weekend, and by phone or in person starting Monday. The ticket office phone is (918) 495-6000.

Mike Brown 581-8390
mike.brown@tulsaworld.com
By MIKE BROWN World Sports Writer

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BLA, Tulsa (11/20/2009 9:35:28 AM)
Mr. Brown, please discontinue the use of BCS when talking about basketball. The BCS is a football term and refers to the monopoly 6 conferences hold on TV rights and money. Until we stop perpetuating the idea that these conferences are automatically better than the others, teams from lesser known conferences will always struggle to be included in rankings, the NCAA tournament, etc. I am tired of everyone referring to these conferences as the power conferences when in reality the top 2-3 teams might be very good, but the rest are average at best. Those teams continually get credit for beating the weak sister teams, yet Tulsa, ORU, and some of the other so-called "mid-majors" do not receive the same credit for beating the same team by the same margin. As long as reporters such as yourself give credence to the term "BCS" when referring to basketball, you perpetuate this ridiculous notion.
 

 
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