Deliberate foul almost 'backfired' on Golden Eagles
11/19/2009 10:39:00 AM
ORU head coach Scott Sutton admitted by phone late Wednesday night from Stanford, Calif., that his decision to deliberately foul with a three-point lead and 10 seconds left "almost backfired on us."
But Sutton had his reasons, and junior guard Rod Pearson hit an 18-footer as time expired, allowing the Eagles to escape with an important 83-81 road win over the Cardinal of the Pac-10.
"We've lost so many games where teams have hit 3's to tie (or win) the game and we decided to foul early, and it almost backfired on us, but we were able to hit a great shot at the end," Sutton said.
One of the most vivid reminders is that heartbreaking 65-64 loss to Creighton in the 2008 Bracketbusters game at the Mabee Center. The Bluejays trailed by two when Booker Woodfox hit a 3-pointer with 28 seconds left.
This time, ORU led 79-77 on Dominique Morrison's jumper with 19 seconds left and 81-78 after Michael Craion's two foul shots with 9.4 seconds left.
Rather than allow Stanford to take a potential tying 3-pointer, Pearson fouled Stanford's Jarrett Mann on instructions from the bench with 6.9 seconds left.
Mann made the first of two foul shots and rebounded the second shot when it bounded straight back to him at the foul line. Stanford called timeout and tied the game when Landry Fields took Mann's inbounds pass to score a layin with 4.7 seconds left.
But Pearson, the transfer junior point guard, did exactly what he was signed to do, taking an ORU inbounds pass and rocketing the ball to the other end before triggering his game-winner from the right side.
Pearson apparently got as close as he did because the Cardinal was reluctant to cut him off or try anything that might draw a foul call from the officiating crew, and put Pearson at the line with two shots to win the game.
-- Mike Brown
ORU defenders face tough test in opener at Wake Forest
11/11/2009 4:13:00 PM
Big challenge: ORU coach Scott Sutton keeps saying that junior swingman Michael Craion plays larger than his size.
The 6-foot-5 Craion will probably have to play much larger Friday when he guards Wake Forest's All-American candidate, 6-foot-9 Al-Farouq Aminu.
Sutton said Craion and 6-foot-5 Kyron Stokes will probably take swipes at Aminu as the Golden Eagles open the regular season in Winston-Salem, N.C., facing the Demon Deacons of the Atlantic Coast Conference.
"He's a great player, and it's a big challenge for whoever defends him," Sutton said.
Aminu is the Deacons' top returning scorer (12.9) and rebounder (8.2) from last season when he earned ACC all-freshman honors and Freshman All-American honors from several media sources.
He had 24 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists in the Deacons' lone exhibition contest, an 88-57 win over Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
Wake Forest lost guard Jeff Teague and forward James Johnson to the NBA, but returns a massive front and experience in the backcourt.
The Deacons are picked to finish sixth in the ACC, coming off a disappointing 2008-09 season when they were 24-7 overall, tied for second in the ACC regular season and were ranked No. 1 for one week but lost to Cleveland State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Road to recovery: ORU junior forward Javier Nasarre has returned to practice and was working in full-speed, half-court drills earlier this week.
Nasarre will travel to Wake Forest, but will not suit up or play. Sutton said he hopes to have the 6-foot-10 Nasarre back in time for the game at Stanford next weekend, part of the Cancun Challenge.
Nasarre underwent foot surgery in August. From Barbastro, Spain, he averaged 8.9 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.1 blocked shots for Northern Oklahoma-Tonkawa last season.
Familiar face: Wake Forest assistant Dave Wojcik knows plenty about the Golden Eagles. He spent the past four years working for his brother, TU head coach Doug Wojcik.
"Dave's a good guy and he obviously did a great job for Doug," Sutton said.
A few more facts and figures from ORU's exhibition win
11/3/2009 12:26:00 AM
Loose ends and extra strands from ORU’s 82-57 exhibition win over the University of British Columbia:
Partial contingent: The Eagles played without two other scholarship athletes beside freshman point guard Hunter McClintock, who suffered a season-ending injury in a practice last Friday.
Redshirt freshman forward Tim Morton hurt his knee in the same practice session and goes Tuesday (Nov. 3) for an MRI to determine the extent of damage.
One insider said the injury is not believed to be severe.
Junior forward Javier Nassare, Morton and McClintock watched from the sidelines in street clothes.
Nassare is recuperating from a foot surgery and the Eagles are hopeful of having him in the next two or three weeks, possibly for the Nov. 13 regular-season opener at Wake Forest.
The Eagles also did not dress walkons Mikey Manghum and Steven Jenkins. Manghum, who captained England’s under-18 team in the European championships, has NCAA clearinghouse issues, and the coaches are also thinking about redshirting him.
McClintock said he discussed the injury with his father. What did dad say?
“He said it’s another year to get bigger and stronger,” said McClintock, officially listed by ORU at 6-foot-2.
Veterans shine: Dominique Morrison had two 3-pointers among his 11 points and grabbed five rebounds. Kevin Ford had nine points, eight rebounds and two assists.
Ford, the team’s only scholarship senior, was disappointed about not shooting better. He was 2-of-6 from the field with close-in misses and 5-of-9 from the line. But the 6-foot-9 forward was engaged defensively and gave a muscular effort against UBC’s big men.
“I missed a lot of shots I normally make. I don’t know the cause, but if I’m gonna miss ‘em, I feel like I need to do something on the defensive end to make up for it,” Ford said.
“Kevin’s been great. He’s been a great teammate and he’s tried to be a leader (in preseason drills),” head coach Scott Sutton said. “He missed some shots and he’s a better free throw shooter than what he showed, but I think some of our guys may have been nervous and still had some rust.”
Ford and Morrison agreed that McClintock’s injury is a blow to the team.
“It’s a terrible loss,” Morrison said. “He’s a pass-first guy. He looks to dish a lot and he knows how to get his teammates open. But I think (junior guard Rod Pearson) and (sophomore guard Ken Holdman) did a good job. They played good defense and it was good to see them pressuring the ball.”
Coloring Craion: As advertised, junior forward Michael Craion is long and slippery, plays bigger than his size, defends well and seems to have a knack for getting his hands on every interior pass.
He had a game-high 18 points with nine rebounds and never seemed to do anything but let the game flow to him.
Said Morrision: “That’s what he does. Get him the ball in the post and he score layups. Or, he gets rebounds and does simple things to get the ball in the basket.”
Playing defense: The Eagles clamped down in the second half, holding the visitors to 32.3 percent from the field.
“This can be one of our better defensive teams because of the quickness of (Rod Pearson, Craion and Ken Holdman) and because of Kevin’s athleticism, and because Dominique has gotten better,” Sutton said.
“I just wish we had a shot-blocker. Our best teams had guys like (6-foot-10 Shawn King from the 2007-08 team). But Kevin’s trying to block more shots and I think he will block some shots,” Sutton said.
Ford said the Eagles got things straightened out at halftime.
“”We talked about our mistakes and what we were doing wrong. We weren’t communicating. We preach defense all day long, and in the second half, we locked up and did our job. We did a better job of communicating,” he said.
-- Mike Brown
ORU fans see Golden Eagles going up and down for the first time
10/22/2009 10:35:00 PM
Kevin Ford, Ken Holdman and Hunter McClintock were the men to watch as ORU fans got their first look at the Golden Eagles’ 2009-10 team during annual Slam N Jam festivities at the Mabee Center.
Ford, the 6-foot-9 senior from Portland, Ore., won the slam-dunk contest for the second straight year while Holdman and McClintock ran circles around the backcourt tandem of Rod Pearson and Kyron Stokes, leading the Blue to a 29-18 win over the Gold in a 20-minute scrimmage.
In the final of the women’s long-shooting contest, Schulter senior Kelly Kindell made six straight 3-pointers in one stretch and beat Adair freshman Kevi Luper 8-6.
Holdman, the super-quick sophomore from East Central, had two steals, a breakaway layup and hit a 10-foot jumper to score four points in the scrimmage.
McClintock, the freshman point guard from North Carolina, didn’t score a point, but he had two assists, a steal and ran the offense deftly without committing a turnover.
“Hunter understands the game like I thought he did,” head coach Scott Sutton said. “It’s unusual for a freshman to be able to come in and know how to play. There’s room for improvement, but he makes his teammates better in a lot of different ways.”
Sutton is predicting that McClintock, who averaged 11.2 points and 5.3 assists for one of the nation’s premier prep school programs last year, will be an immediate fan favorite.
McClintock is already Ford's favorite because the salty passer knows how to get the ball in Ford's hands. McClintock assisted Ford's winning play in the dunk contest with a pass off the backboard from behind. Ford caught it, and using a smooth windmill motion, brought the ball up and around from behind the glass to jam it into the basket.
Ford is used to making showtime dunks. He had 29 in games last season and appeared regularly on ESPN's Plays-of-the-Day segment. It was the only dunk he needed to beat sophomore guard Beloved Rogers in the final of the dunk contest.
The crowd of about 3,000 roared its approval and Ford bowed to his waist, then kneeled and bowed all the way to the floor. The fans loved it.
The fans also loved the explosive Holdman, who picked an opponent’s pocket and looked like he had been shot out of a cannon as he sailed in for a layup, part of a 17-0 run by the Blue to start the scrimmage.
“Ken has really matured," Sutton said. "He was a typical freshman last year. He had up days and down days and didn’t understand how hard you have to practice and compete every day. He’s been really good so far. He’s shown a lot of improvement from last year to this year.”
Sophomore forward Dominique Morrison showed he hasn’t lost his shooting touch from last season when he started all 31 games and averaged 9.6 points. Morrison scored on jump hooks, spinners and even hit a 3-pointer. He made his first five shots and finished with a scrimmage-high 11 points for the Blue.
Damen Bell-Holter also showed plenty. The 6-foot-10 freshman from Alaska showed he could be a tower of power in the middle for years to come by collecting eight points, six rebounds and three blocked shots.
He made 4-of-5 from the field with two dunks and his six rebounds tied Ford for the scrimmage high. Ford also scored six points.
Stokes and freshman Warren Niles scored four each to lead the Gold, and junior-college transfer Michael Craion had a 3-pointer and five rebounds.
Michael Fletcher also hit a 3-pointer for the Gold, which managed just 8-of-28 from the field. The Blue hit 14-of-27.
McClintock assisted Ford’s inside basket to start the scrimmage, Morrison followed with a jump hook, Bell-Holter hit a fall-away jumper and Holdman had his steal and layup as the Blue raced to an 8-0 lead in the first four minutes.
Morrison followed with a 3-pointer and another basket. Bell-Holter got loose for his first dunk and Holdman hit a jumper, giving the Blue a 17-0 lead with 10:50 left.
Pearson scored the Gold's first basket at 10:15.
-- Mike Brown
Guitar autographed by Garth Brooks to be auctioned at ORU basketball event
10/19/2009 5:21:14 PM
Various items will be auctioned during ORU's Courtside Countdown, the school's annual basketball tip-off event Tuesday at the Mabee Center.
The program begins with a silent auction from 6-7 p.m. Dinner will be served at 6:30, followed by a program and live auction.
Fans may interact with the coaches, players and staff members of the men's and women's basketball teams.
Tickets are $25. Groups of eight may purchase a table featuring a head coach and player for $500.
One of the most attractive items for auction is an guitar autographed by Garth Brooks, personalized to the winner.
Other items include:
NASCAR racing package.
Trip to Las Vegas with the men's team in February.
Wedding package valued at $4,500, with unlimited photographic services covering ceremony and reception, plus reception D.J.
Three-course meal for eight, prepared in your home by Southern Hills Country Club chef Devin Levine.
A nine-course chef's tasting for 10 at Polo Grill.
Dinner for four with new ORU president Dr. Mark Rutland, athletic director Mike Carter and their wives.
Golf at Southern Hills with Carter and ORU men's basketball coach Scott Sutton.
Attend an Oklahoma State basketball game and sit courtside with Eddie Sutton.
Football autographed by University of Oklahoma Heisman Trophy winners Jason White, Billy Sims and Steve Owens.
Mounted, autographed poster commemorating Nolan Ryan's seventh no-hitter (vs. Toronto on May 1, 1991).
-- Mike Brown
Golden Eagles hit the floor at 5 sharp
10/16/2009 6:31:00 PM
The college basketball season is officially here. The Golden Eagles started practice at 5 p.m. Friday at the Mabee Center. Some early observations:
At 5:08, freshman Damen Bell-Holter had his first practice dunk as the trailing man on a fast-break drill.
This my first time to see the 6-foot-10, 270-pound Bell-Holter in action. Think Dwayne “
The Rock” Johnson, only taller.
I don’t know if Bell-Holter can act, but I’m sure he can do a spot-on rendition of “The Incredible Hulk” with no trouble.
He also has some offensive skills. He showed one by backing in against 6-foot-9 Tim Morton and rattling home a turnaround 8-footer in a defensive drill.
Sophomore guard Ken Holdman is as quick as ever. In the same defensive drill, he made a 360-degree spin move to drive around Beloved Rogers.
Junior point guard Rod Pearson, now eligible after sitting out last year, split two defenders with a pass to Rogers, streaking along the baseline for a reverse layup. The coaches are hoping Pearson, who started two years at Southeast Missouri, is ready to quarterback the team.
Transfer swingman Michael Craion was a little under the weather, but showed enough Friday to make it obvious that he has the tools to be a scorer/disruptor in the Larry Owens mold.
Morton and sophomore guard Kyron Stokes were sporting Mohawk haircuts.
The Eagles spent roughly the first hour doing 2-on-4 and 3-on-3 defensive drills. With seven scholarship athletes eligible for the first time, the ORU coaches will do a lot of teaching over the next several days.
-- Mike Brown
Luxury boxes for Mabee Center
10/13/2009 3:00:00 PM
If you haven’t heard, the ORU athletic department is adding new luxury
boxes at the Mabee Center, the Golden Eagles’ home basketball venue.
The school received building permits last Friday and construction will
begin soon, with a Dec. 1 target date for completion, according to Scott Higgins, associate athletic director for marketing.
If everything goes well, the new boxes – four of them, containing 16 to
20 seats each – will be ready for the Dec. 3 Summit League opener
against Missouri-Kansas City.
ORU also hosts conference rival Southern Utah on Dec. 5 and Missouri of
the Big 12 Conference on Dec. 9.
The boxes will be located at the top of the gold seating sections ‘K’
and ‘L’ (behind the scorer’s table) in the lower bowl.
The top three rows of seats in those sections will be eliminated to make
room for the boxes, along with five rows of seats in the corresponding
blue upper-level seating sections. Because of the new constuction, views would be obstructed from the upper-level seats.
No more than 250 seats will be lost from the arena’s 10,575 seating
capacity, according to Vince Volpe, new associate athletic director for
external operations.
In return, Volpe said, the athletic department gains a valuable revenue
source. That’s important, he said, because the department has been
charged with generating $300,000 this school year to pay for 10 athletic
scholarships – part of university-wide efforts at reducing deficit.
The Golden Eagles are also creating 32 new Jack Nicholson-style
courtside seats for donors willing to pay $2500 on top of the price of
their $150 season tickets.
The new seats will be located in the lowered area opposite the scorer’s
table previously used for seating the media. Press and media seating
will now be moved into one of the lower-bowl seating areas.
Golden Eagle Club members and season-ticket holders were offered first-refusal rights on the seats, and about one-third have been sold,
Volpe said.
The new luxury boxes will rent from $25,000 to upwards of $30,000 per
year, depending on the length of contract.
Five-year contracts will rent for $33,000 per year, plus a $2,000 annual escalation over the length of the contract. Seven-year contracts will go for $30,000 per year, plus a $2,000 annual escalation.
Ten-year contracts are available at a fixed rate of $25,000 per year,
but the full amount -- $250,000 – must be paid at the time of purchase,
-- Mike Brown
ORU negotiating for games with Oklahoma Sooners
10/1/2009 7:12:13 PM
The ORU men's basketball team is working on a 2-for-1 deal to play the University of Oklahoma, head coach Scott Sutton told members of the Southside Rotary Club at Thursday's luncheon.
The arrangement would involve three games -- two in Norman -- and bring the Sooners to play one game at the Mabee Center, Sutton said.
The teams could play as early as the 2010-11 season, probably in Norman.
Jeff Capel is heading into his fourth season at the OU helm. The Sooners went 30-6 last season and advanced to the final eight of the NCAA Tournament. They were led by forward Blake Griffin, who later was chosen No. 1 in the NBA draft by the LA Clippers.
ORU is 2-10 in all-time games against the Sooners. Oklahoma won the last meeting 81-73 in Norman in 2005.
Sutton discussed a variety of topics concerning ORU and the 2009-10 basketball season.
On new university president Dr. Mark Rutland:
"I'll always be loyal to the Roberts family. I feel like Richard Roberts (as school president in 1999) took a chance giving me my first head coaching job when I was 28 years old. Having said that, I'm really excited about the new administration. I feel like Mark Rutland is a bright guy and a good businessman, and I really feel like the best days for the university are right around the corner."
Is Sutton comfortable with his athletes using Twitter, Facebook and other social networking services available on the Internet?
"It's one of the first things we talk to our guys about when they get on campus, that they should realize anything that they put out on the web is going to be seen, and they need to be responsible (for content)."
Sutton said the 2009-10 team will be more talented than last year's 16-15 squad, although the Eagles have lost all-conference seniors Robert Jarvis and Marcus Lewis.
Sutton predicted lots of playing time for true freshmen Damen Bell-Holter and Hunter McClintock, along with transfer junior guard Rod Pearson, who is eligible after sitting out last season.
Sutton said Pearson, who transferred from Southeast Missouri State "has a chance to be a special player."
-- Mike Brown
Checking out the Golden Eagles
9/20/2009 2:08:58 PM
It's been brought my attention that the original ORU blog posted here late last week was obscured because of technical malfunctions caused by not entering a headline. So for those who missed it, here is a humble offering after watching the Golden Eagles in a pickup game.
Damen Bell-Holter and Michael Craion weren't there because they were taking care of passport issues (ORU plays in Cancun this season) but most of the other main players were participating.
Here are a few random observations:
Rocket man: Junior guard Rod Pearson looks like the player head coach Scott Sutton hopes he will be – quick and confident with the ball in his hands. Pearson likes to push the ball, catch defenders napping and take it all the way to the rim. He did this three or four times in the course of about 45 minutes.
Shooter's roll: Didn't know what to expect of true freshman Warren Niles, but he really shot well from the outside, hitting four or five 3-pointers. Niles looks every bit of the 6-foot-4 he's listed on the roster, but awfully thin. Physically, it may be awhile before he's able to play regularly, but if he can shoot it like he did Thursday, he could help off the bench this season.
Highlight reel: Had forgotten how long and athletic 6-foot-9 senior Kevin Ford is. There were no show-time dunks this day, but Ford looks more aggressive and self-assured in the halfcourt, with more willingness to put the ball on the floor and go to the basket.
Mo' DeMo: Dominique Morrison looks stronger and more active overall, more willing to do other things besides getting open for jump shots. Basically, he looks like more of a leader. He drove and scored effortlessly and you had to be impressed with the three or four times he snatched a rebound and took the ball the length of the floor to score at the other end.
Who knows how it's all going to fit together? But that's the best thing about the preseason. Nobody's lost a game yet and every team looks like a champ.
-- Mike Brown
9/18/2009 7:03:23 PM
With a break in the college football grind, it was fun to watch the Golden Eagles play a little pickup ball in the Mabee Center on Thursday afternoon.
Damen Bell-Holter and Michael Craion weren't there because they were taking care of passport issues (ORU plays in Cancun this season) but most of the other main players were participating.
Here are a few random observations:
Rocket man: Junior guard Rod Pearson looks like the player head coach Scott Sutton hopes he will be – quick and confident with the ball in his hands. Pearson likes to push the ball, catch defenders napping and take it all the way to the rim. He did this three or four times in the course of about 45 minutes.
Shooter's roll: Didn't know what to expect of true freshman Warren Niles, but he really shot well from the outside, hitting four or five 3-pointers. Niles looks every bit of the 6-foot-4 he's listed on the roster, but awfully thin. Physically, it may be awhile before he's able to play regularly, but if he can shoot it like he did Thursday, he could help off the bench this season.
Highlight reel: Had forgotten had long and athletic 6-foot-9 senior Kevin Ford is. There were no show-time dunks this day, but Ford looks more aggressive and self-assured in the halfcourt, with more willingness to put the ball on the floor and go to the best.
Mo' DeMo: Dominique Morrison looks stronger and more active overall, more willing to do other things besides getting open for jump shots. Basically, he looks like more of a leader. He drove and scored effortlessly and you had to impressed with the three or four times he snatched a rebound and took the ball the length of the floor to score at the other end.
Who knows how it's all going to fit together? But that's the best thing about the preseason. Nobody's lost a game yet and every team looks like a champ.
-- Mike Brown
ORU guard headed to Belize
7/16/2009 4:47:33 PM
ORU sophomore guard Kyron Stokes said he’s taking more than his basketball skills to play for Belize in the 2009 COCABA championships.
He’s also taking the Gospel of Christ.
“This is a major door that God has opened in my life – at all levels,” Stokes said.
“I’m going down there to work on my game and soak up as much as I can and also to be a spiritual light and a living testimony to the way I live my life. I’m very excited about it. I get to share the Gospel and do what I love, which is play basketball.”
Stokes left on Wednesday, July 15 for Belize to begin preparing for the eight-team tournament, Aug. 5-10 in Cancun, Mexico. The tourney involves the Central American nations and Mexico. It’s a qualifier for the 2010 Centrobasket Tournament, which qualifies for the 2011 FIBA Americas Championship.
The ultimate goal is to qualify for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
Belize, which borders Meixco’s Yucatan Peninsula and the Central American nation of Guatemala, has never finished higher than third in the tournament.
Stokes has lived in the United State most of his life, but is eligible for the Belizean team because his mother and biological father were born in Belize. He had no idea about the possibility until accidentally meeting Belizean team coach Kevin Siroki at a gathering of Belizeans and Belizean-Americans in Houston last summer.
Siroki sized up the muscular, 6-foot-5 Stokes and figured he must be playing basketball at some level.
“We struck up a conversation and (Siroki) told me about the national team. He said he would keep track of me, and I didn’t think much more about it,” Stokes said.
“Then, about midway through last season, he emailed (ORU head coach Scott Sutton). Then he contacted me. From that point on, it’s kind of been in the works. I had to get all this information together and everything basically fell into place. God was very faithful in working it out for me.”
Among other things, Stokes had to apply for dual Belizean-U.S. citizenship.
Although Stokes won’t know a soul on the team -- at least initially -- he's expected to be related to at least one teammate.
Milt Palacio, an uncle on his biological father's side of the family, is a former NBA point guard who led Belize to a gold medal in a Caribbean nations competition held in Belize in 1998.
Palacio played for six teams over six NBA seasons (1999-2006), amassing a career average of 4.8 points per game. He is best known for hitting a last-second, 30-foot shot to give the Boston Celtics a 112-111 win over the New Jersey Nets in 2000. Since 2006, Palacio has played pro basketball in Europe.
Stokes said he never knew his biological father, but his own last name was Palacio until he took his step-father’s name when he turned 18.
Stokes’ mother, Joyce, met Alvin Stokes in America and married him when her son was still a baby.
“He’s been my dad since I was 2 years old. He wasn’t my biological father, but he’s the one who raised me to be the person I am today,” Stokes said.
Stokes played in 30 of the Golden Eagles’ 31 games as a redshirt freshman last season, averaging 7.0 points and 4.1 rebounds per game.
He said he hopes to learn something in Belize that will help the Eagles improve on last year’s 16-15 record. He said ORU's returnees have pushed one another to improve almost from the moment they lost to South Dakota State in the first round of the Summit League Tournament.
Meanwhile, Stokes likes the newcomers he’s seen this summer, especially freshman center Damen Bell-Holter and freshman guard Hunter McClintock.
“(McClintock) loves to get people open and make the extra pass. That’s what I like about him. And he’s competitive. I’ve never seen anybody handle the ball like he does, how fast he can go without changing speeds.
“He has a lot to learn, and so does Damen. But they’re gonna be good. Whether they’re starting or coming off the bench, we won’t have a dropoff when they’re in the game.”
-- Mike Brown
Another game for Golden Eagles
7/1/2009 5:13:48 PM
That TBA date of Feb. 20 on ORU's 2009-2010 basketball schedule, announced last week, is for an ESPNU BracketBusters game.
The Golden Eagles are awaiting an invitation to play in the annual extravaganza. The full field is usually announced in August or September.
The event was started in 2003 to showcase quality mid-major programs in high-profile February matchups.
ORU participated for four straight years before stepping aside last season when the Summit League decided to showcase new members North Dakota State and South Dakota State.
"It's an opportunity to play a quality team and get some exposure," ORU head coach Scott Sutton said. "All in all, I'm glad we're back in it."
It's also a way to add a game to the following year's schedule. By agreement, hosting BracketBusters teams must return the game to their opponents' home facility the following November or December.
Last season, 102 schools representing 17 conferences participated in 51 games. The 13 most attractive matchups were televised by the ESPN family of networks.
ORU gets a scheduling break this season, with only one other game during the BracketBusters week -- a Wednesday night home date with Centenary.
In 2007 and 2008, the Eagles were locked into Tuesday and Thursday conference games before their BracketBusters game on Saturday.
"It wasn't ideal when the team we were playing had three or four days to prepare for us," Sutton said.
ORU's BracketBusters history:
Year Opponent Score Attendance
2005: at Missouri State W 86-76 6.906
2006: at Montana L 74-88 3,912
2007: Utah State (ESPNU) L 65-71 9,987
2008: Creighton (ESPN2) L 64-65 8,152
-- Mike Brown
Prep-tourney tidbits from Sioux Falls
3/6/2009 7:32:45 PM
BEER BASH: Beer will be sold during the Summit League basketball championships. The league didn't prohibit selling beer in its deal with the Sioux Falls Sports Authority, according to a report in the Sioux Falls Argus Leader.
How does ORU, a Christian-based university, come down on the practice?
"It's not something we'd promote at one of our events, but this is a conference event, so it's out of our control," ORU athletic director Mike Carter said. He's been in Sioux Falls since Thursday for the various administrative meetings taking place.
According to the Argus Leader, some $325,000 in upgrades were made at the Sioux Falls Arena to host the tournament. Beer sales could help defray that expense, said Russ DeCurtins, Arena executive director.
"We have a pretty big investment in hosting this. There's no harm in trying to recoup some of that investment," DeCurtins told the Argus Leader.
GETTING READY: The ORU men's team flew Friday morning to Sioux Falls by way of Minneapolis, arriving about 1:30 p.m., and ran through an hour-long practice at Augustana College.
Disappointment from not winning the regular-season conference title seems to have faded. Senior guard Robert Jarvis said the Eagles are capable of regrouping to win a fourth straight NCAA Tournament berth.
"We can, but it's just gonna take some toughness. It's not an easy road," Jarvis said.
If the Eagles can get past seventh-seeded South Dakota State, they would probably have to beat third-seeded Oakland in the semifinals and No. 1 seed North Dakota State in the championship game.
One team has a potentially tougher road to the championship game than ORU – the Eagles' first-round foe, SDSU.
"We would probably have to beat the best three teams in the tournament," SDSU head coach Scott Nagy said.
TV TIME: KGEB-TV 23/53 will televise a feed of Monday's 8:30 p.m. semifinal if ORU advances that far. Tuesday's 7 p.m. championship game will be on ESPN2.
-- Mike Brown
Eagles regathering themselves for conference tournament
3/4/2009 1:34:15 AM
EASY DOES IT: ORU coach Scott Sutton put his players through individual drills only Monday, cancelling team practice to give them another day of rest.
“Last week was a long week and I thought it would be good to get some shots up and give them another day off,” Sutton said. “For us to have a chance to win this tournament, we need to play with all the energy we can get. The only way this team plays well is if we play with energy.”
Marcus Lewis said he spent Monday getting over the disappointment of Saturday’s emotional loss to North Dakota State and was ready to move on when the team returned Tuesday to practice.
“Yeah, it was emotional. Everybody wanted a chance to be conference champs, but you can’t dwell on it. We know what we have to do. We have to get ready to play South Dakota State,” he said.
The second-seeded Eagles play the seventh-seeded Jackrabbits in a first-round game at 8:30 p.m. Saturday in Sioux Falls.
If ORU wins, it would probably face third-seeded Oakland in Monday’s 8:30 p.m. semifinal. Oakland plays sixth-seeded IPFW at 8:30 p.m. Sunday.
LOOKING BACK: Sutton gave due credit to North Dakota State for pulling out Saturday’s game after trailing most of the way.
But Sutton isn’t ready to say the Eagles played their best game and can’t play any better if ORU and NDSU meet again.
“Going back and watching the games last week, we missed so many easy shots. I counted up that we missed nine or 10 layups in each game. That’s nine or 10 shots we should hit, and probably three or four each game when we got fouled. But instead of getting to the line, we’ve gotta convert those into three-point plays. That really hurt us against North Dakota State when we had a chance to push the lead higher and make it harder for them to come back,” Sutton said.
“We did a good job of rebounding, but we did a poor job of defending their ball screen and such a major part of their offense is how you defend (guard Ben Woodside) off the ball screen. We broke down numerous times, and as a result, we gave up probably – I wouldn’t say uncontested – but probably gave up 10 layups against them. Cut those in half and make a few of yours that you missed, and that’s a big point swing.
CRAMPING HIS STYLE: Robert Jarvis blamed himself for getting the cramps that took him out of Saturday’s game for over a minute in a critical juncture of the second half.
Jarvis went high to corral a fast-break pass from Andre Hardy and got the ball headed toward the basket before crashing to the floor with cramps in both calves.
Some cramps can be walked out, but these were severe.
“It was painful. I couldn’t do anything. I didn’t have enough fluids. I wasn’t tired, it was just fluids,” he said. “I was mad.”
Mad? Mad because he didn’t take the necessary fluids during the game?
“Yes. All of the above,” the senior guard said after Tuesday’s practice.
Jarvis, who led the Eagles with 23 points, left the game with 8:02 left and returned at 6:44, but didn’t score another point before hitting 1-of-2 foul shots while ORU trailed by three points with two seconds left.
CASING THE JOINT: ORU coach Scott Sutton hasn’t been in the Sioux Falls Arena, but trainer John Joslin has.
Joslin took numerous trips as trainer with the Tulsa 66ers for three yeas when the 66ers played the Sioux Falls Skyforce in the NBA Development League.
“It’s not brand new. I’m going to say it was probably built in the ‘50s or ‘60s. It probably seats 6,000 for D-league games and they packed it for every game, and it got loud. So they had a good fan base,” Joslin said.
“It’s similar to (Expo Square) Pavilion, a little more squared off than rounded (in the corners), but it’s an intimate place. Your bench is probably five feet from the first row of seats, so the fans sit right on top of you,” he said.
One interesting feature is an underground walkway from the Sheraton Sioux Falls (tourney headquarters hotel) to the arena.
Eagles just as good when Sutton goes to bench
2/26/2009 2:23:08 AM
A strong bench is aiding Oral Roberts’ quest for another Summit League basketball title.
Sophomore forward Andre Hardy and redshirt freshman guard Kyron Stokes have combined to average 14.7 points and 9.7 rebounds this season.
Head coach Scott Sutton says its almost like having seven starters instead of five. In fact, Stokes started nine games earlier in the season and Hardy has made four starts.
``Both of them could easily be starting,'' Sutton said. ``I’ve said this before. I like being able to bring guys off the bench that make you better.''
Robert Jarvis led the Golden Eagles in scoring last season, but ORU seemed better when he came off the bench, providing a burst of energy after the game had started.
So that’s what he did for 27 of the team’s 33 games last season before settling into a starting role this year as a senior.
Sutton says he's able to bring players off the bench who are as good as the men starting the game.
``A lot of the teams in our league and our (mid-major) level don't have that luxury. When you’re able to bring in a guy who's probably your second-best perimeter defender (Stokes), and then bring in one of your better rebounders (Hardy), a kid who’s tough and hard-nosed, we certainly don’t drop down a lot,'' Sutton said.
Hardy and Stokes are almost always Sutton’s first substitutes, entering the game about four minutes in, or around the first media timeout.
The 6-foot-6 Hardy, from Long Beach, Calif., is more suited to playing close to the basket and usually subs for Marcus Lewis or Kevin Ford.
He’s averaging 7.7 points and 5.7 rebounds, and played one of his better games last week, scoring 14 points in the 64-46 win at Southern Utah.''
``Coach Sutton and I had a talk and he said I needed to play harder and I think the last two games, I played with a tremendous amount of energy and passion. I think the talk we had helped me,'' Stokes said.
Stokes, a 6-foot-5 guard from Mansfield, Texas, is a defensive stopper in the mold of senior starter Kelvin Sango, and usually gets the same guarding assignment when Sango isn’t on the floor.
He and Sango have teamed to hold down some of the highest-scoring individuals ORU has faced this year.
In addition to averaging 7.0 points and 4.0 rebounds, Stokes is third on the team in steals (24) and blocked shots (12).
He had a breakout offensive week on ORU’s recent road trip, scoring 26 points in the wins at Southern Utah and UMKC.
His 16-point game at UMKC was punctuated by a steal and layup.
``It felt great. It's actually like my first time to do that in a game, even in high school. I might have done it twice in a game, but I never dunked on anybody like that.''
Stokes picked off a pass by UMKC's Fred Ford, flashed to to the other end and dunked over Ford, who tried to chase him down, but only succeeded in fouling him.
``I was hoping he wouldn't get in front of me. I was feeling pretty good in warmups and I was thinking, `I'm gonna dunk this.' I didn't think he was gonna jump, but then he jumped into me and I finished it. I was just hyped and our guys were into it. It was a lot of fun.''
-- Mike Brown
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