Tulsa World: Mistakes costly for ORU

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Mistakes costly for ORU

Sam Houston State's Corey Allmond (right) drives past Oral Roberts' Dominique Morrison during the Cancun Challenge in Cancun, Mexico, on Tuesday. Allmond led the Bearkats with 17 points. Israel Leal / Associated Press

By Staff Reports
Published: 11/25/2009 2:28 AM
Last Modified: 11/25/2009 6:55 AM

CANCUN, Mexico — The Oral Roberts basketball team knew it was in for a bumpy ride Tuesday afternoon.

Playing without injured point guard Roderick Pearson, the Golden Eagles coughed up 17 turnovers and lost to Sam Houston State 71-65 in the third leg of the Cancun Challenge at Moon Palace Resort.

ORU fell to 2-3 overall and 1-2 in the tournament, which concludes for ORU with a 12:30 p.m. Wednesday game against Florida A&M (0-5).

Pearson, who injured his knee in Saturday's loss at Virginia, watched the Eagles overcome a sluggish first half and rally from an eight-point deficit to lead 47-42. But SHSU regained control with a 17-4 run and was ahead to stay.

ORU closed the gap to one twice in the final minute but couldn't get a stop. SHSU's Preston Brown, who played on a Class B semifinal team at Stringtown in 2006, made the game's biggest play by scoring a layup and hitting a foul shot to give the Bearkats a four-point lead with 24.6 seconds left.

SHSU, favored for the Southland Conference's West Division title, improved to 3-2.

ORU held the Bearkats to 1-of-12 from 3-point range after Sam Houston made 18 treys in a loss at Kentucky. But SHSU senior guards Corey Allmond and Ashton Mitchell still combined for 33 points.

"I thought our perimeter defense was terrific, but their guards played like experienced players do," ORU head coach Scott Sutton said. "They took us on the dribble and we had a hard time containing them."

Michael Craion led ORU with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Freshman guard Warren Niles made his first college start in Pearson's place. Niles lost three turnovers in the first five minutes but steadied and finished with 12 points.

Niles, Craion and sophomore guard Ken Holdman shared in running the team and each had four turnovers.

"In the first half, I thought we got exposed at times, not having a true point guard," Sutton said. "Some of our guys are gonna have to grow up fast and get better at handling the ball."

Pearson's injury is believed to be season-ending, but Sutton said the Eagles won't know the full extent until the team returns home and Pearson has an MRI scan.

"Don't give up on us," Pearson told the fans in a halftime radio interview. "We're still fighting, we're still gonna win some games. Don't worry about me, I'm gonna be OK." By Staff Reports

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Some reader comments for this story were copied from "ORU men fall to Sam Houston State," which was published on 11/24/2009.

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ORU_TXAlum, (11/24/2009 8:27:32 PM)

Tough loss; this team is resilient and will bounce back. We just need someone to step up and be our point guard.

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