CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.�€"Casey Long hit a 12-foot jumper in
the lane with 33 seconds left and Rickey Hood sank a pair of free
throws with four seconds to play as Chattanooga rallied for a 76-72
win over Oral Roberts University, Saturday at McKenzie Arena.
The
loss spoiled a fantastic effort by ORU�€™s
Ken Tutt (Garland, Texas), who scored a
career-high 36 points before fouling out with less than a minute to
play. The senior guard was 11-for-18 from the field, including
9-of-14 from 3-point range, but it wasn�€™t
enough to keep ORU (4-5) from dropping its second straight
game.
After
trailing 33-28 at halftime, Tutt jump-started a stagnant ORU
offense in the second half. He hit three consecutive treys in a
span of two minutes, putting the Golden Eagles within 44-38 with
15:51 remaining.
Chattanooga (5-5) quickly pushed the lead back up to 10 points when
Kevin Bridgewater hit a driving layup to make it 48-38 with 14:13
left.
A
three-point play by Caleb Green (Tulsa, Okla.)
with 13:37 to go made it 48-41, before Tutt almost single-handedly
put ORU in front.
Three
consecutive long-range bombs by Tutt turned another 10-point
Chattanooga lead into a 54-50 game with 11:26 to play. A steal and
fast-break dunk by Yemi Ogunoye (Cedar Hill,
Texas) cut the lead to 54-52 with 10:25 left.
Green�€™s layup with 9:27 left tied it at 54-54,
and Tutt gave the Golden Eagles a 57-54 lead �€" their
first since late in the first half �€" with a 3-pointer
from the left wing with 8:39 to play.
Bridgewater pulled the Mocs within 57-56 with a layup at 6:52, but
Tutt answered back with his seventh 3-pointer of the half to give
ORU a 60-56 advantage with 6:25 to go.
The
lead see-sawed back-and-forth throughout the
game�€™s remainder. Neither team gained more than
a one-point advantage over the next three minutes until Tutt nailed
a pair of free throws for a 67-65 lead with 3:14 left.
Keddrick Mays knotted the game at 67-67 with a pair of free throws
15 seconds later, and Mays put the Mocs on top by one with a single
free throw at the 2:15 mark.
Down
68-67, Tutt made his ninth �€" and final
�€" 3-pointer of the game with 1:46 left to give ORU
its last lead at 70-68.
Another
trip to the free throw line for the Mocs �€" this time
by Casey Long �€" knotted the game at 70-70 when Long
made both at the 1:15 mark.
On
ORU�€™s next possession, Tutt was called for an
offensive foul as he drove the right baseline, setting the stage
for Chattanooga�€™s heroics down the stretch.
Tutt�€™s career-best scoring effort was thanks in
large part to a school record. His eight 3-pointers in the second
half broke the old mark of seven set by Josh Atkisnon against
Loyola (Ill.) on Dec. 15, 2003.
Green,
who started his 100th consecutive game on Saturday,
scored 16 points and pulled down a season-high 16 rebounds for his
fifth double-double of the season, and the 51st of his
career. He also extended his double-figure scoring streak to 38
games.
ORU
shot 46.8 percent (22-47) for the game, including 54.5 percent in
the second half. The Golden Eagles were 17-of-25 from the line, but
committed 22 turnovers, to just 15 for Chattanooga.
The
Mocs shot 42.1 percent (24-57) for the game, and went 22-of-29 from
the free throw line.
Mays
led Chattanooga with 15 points, while Long added 14 and Bridgewater
chipped in with 13 points off the bench.
The
Golden Eagles host Montana, 7:05 p.m., Tuesday at Mabee Center.
--ORU--
