TULSA�€"Moses Ehambe (Arlington,
Texas) and Adam Liberty (Oklahoma City, Okla.)
combined to score 42 points to lead Oral Roberts University to a
69-58 win over Montana, Tuesday at Mabee Center.
Both
players reached career highs in points, with Liberty scoring 22 and
Ehambe adding 20. The duo combined to go 10-of-13 from the field,
including 5-of-8 from 3-point range, and 17-of-18 from the free
throw line as ORU (5-5) snapped a two-game losing streak and won
for just the second time in six games.
With
most of the attention on Caleb
Green�€™s (Tulsa, Okla.) pursuit of
2,000 career points �€" he needed 17 points to reach
the milestone, but scored 16 �€" Ehambe and Liberty
stole the show.
The
Golden Eagles trailed for much of the early-going, holding a
one-point lead with 18:23 to play, and a two-point advantage with
17:44 left. Ehambe tied the game at 15-15 with his first basket of
the night, a three-pointer with 10:59 left in the half.
Ehambe
again connected from long-range to give ORU a 20-19 lead with 7:04
remaining, and Liberty put the Golden Eagles ahead, 22-21, with a
pair of free throws at the 5:47 mark.
Montana
(6-6) tied it twice more before Liberty put the Golden Eagles ahead
for good when his short jumper gave ORU a 26-24 lead with 2:53 left
before halftime. Ehambe made 1-of-2 free throws with 1:47 left for
a 27-24 lead and scored a layup off an offensive rebound with 45
seconds left for a 29-24 advantage.
He
closed the half with a buzzer-beating three-pointer from 22 feet
out, which swirled around the rim and fell through before the horn
sounded, giving ORU a 32-24 lead at halftime. The bucket gave
Ehambe 14 points, tying his previous career high.
In the
second half, the Golden Eagles tried to pull away from the Big Sky
Conference preseason favorites, but the Grizzlies made it tough.
Liberty gave ORU its first double-digit lead of the night when his
layup made it 34-24 with 19:01 left. But Montana
didn�€™t allow ORU to extended the lead past 11
points, and got as close as six points three different times before
ORU gained some short-lived breathing room.
With
the lead down to eight points, Liberty drained a three-pointer with
10:58 remaining for a 51-40 lead, and Green hit a layup as ORU went
up 53-40 with 10:22 to go. But Montana used a 7-0 spurt over the
next two minutes and pulled within 53-47 on a jumper by Cameron
Rundles.
But ORU
responded with its own spurt, scoring six straight points over the
next 2:13. A basket by Green put ORU up 59-47, effectively putting
away the game.
Ehambe
finished the night 5-of-7 from the field and 7-of-8 from the free
throw line. He also grabbed four rebounds in 22 minutes off the
bench.
Liberty
was 5-of-6 from the field and made all 10 of his free throw
attempts. He also made two of three from long-range.
Green
fell one point shy of becoming the fifth player in school history
with 2,000 points. He finished with 16 points, seven rebounds and
three assists in a solid all-round effort.
Andrew
Strait led Montana with 21 points.
The
Golden Eagles next visit Arkansas, 7 p.m., Friday. The game can be
seen locally on Cox Communications, Ch. 3.
--ORU�€"
Oral Roberts vs.
Montana
December 19, 2006
ORU 69,
Montana 58
Post-Game Notes
- ORU is 16-3
all-time against current Big Sky Conference members
- Junior
swingman Moses Ehambe tied his career-high in
scoring with 14 points �€" in the first half. He went
5-for-5 in the first 20 minutes, including 3-for-3 from three-point
range. He finished with 20 points.
- Junior guard
Adam Liberty scored a season-high 22 points
- Senior
forward Caleb Green fell one point shy of becoming
the fifth player in school history to reach 2,000 career. He enters
Friday�€™s game at Arkansas with 1,999 career
points.
- Green
extended his double-figure scoring streak to 39 consecutive
games
- Green is 29
rebounds shy of reaching 1,000
- ORU made a
season-high 25 free throws
-
Tonight�€™s game was ORU�€™s
final home game of 2006
- ORU
improved/fell to 4-1/3-2 at home this season
