PROVO,
Utah�€"Caleb Green (Tulsa, Okla.) sank
a pair of free throws with :2.4 seconds remaining to lift Oral
Roberts University to a 76-74 win over Seton Hall in the opening
game of the BYU Holiday Classic, Thursday at Marriott Center.
After leading by as many as 12
points late in the first half, the Golden Eagles (6-6) found
themselves on the short end of a 72-64 score with 3:40 to play
before mounting a comeback.
Ken Tutt (Garland,
Texas) started the final surge with a pair of free throws at 3:17,
trimming the Pirates lead to 72-66. A Seton Hall (7-3) miss on the
other end led to a fast-break layup for Tutt, trimming it to 72-68
with 2:55 left.
Green converted a 3-point play with
2:20 left to pull the Golden Eagles within 72-71. Seton
Hall�€™s Eugene Harvey temporarily stopped the
bleeding and gave the Pirates a 74-71 lead at 2:09. But Harvey was
whistled for a taunting technical after the basket, and Tutt sank a
pair of free throws to make it a 74-73 game.
ORU wasted an opportunity to take
the lead before the final moments. Kelvin Sango
(Tulsa, Okla.) missed a pair of free throws with 2:01 left, and
Green followed suit, missing a pair of freebies with 1:36
remaining. Green finally tied the game by making one-of-two free
throws with :55.5 seconds left.
Seton Hall �€" which
went 1-for-6 from the field in the final three minutes
�€" again missed on its next possession, setting the
stage for Green�€™s winning free throws.
In the first half, ORU jumped all
over the Pirates, using a 13-2 run to grab a 21-10 lead on a
three-pointer by Tutt with 11:29 remaining. Seton Hall closed to
within six points before ORU pushed its lead to 31-19 on a jumper
by Green.
But the Pirates rallied in the
final minutes, and ORU held just a 40-38 lead at halftime.
Green finished with 30 points on
9-12 shooting from the field. The nation�€™s
leader in made free throws per game, Green sank 12 at the stripe,
but needed a school-record 22 attempts to do so. The senior grabbed
six rebounds, and now needs eight rebounds to reach 1,000.
Tutt finished with 24 points, going
8-of-16 from the field and 7-of-11 from the line. Marchello
Vealy (Oklahoma City, Okla.) grabbed a career-high 11
rebounds.
The Golden Eagles shot 54.2 percent
(26-48) from the field, including just 1-of-5 from 3-point range.
ORU struggled at the line, making just 23 of 39 attempts, or 59.0
percent. The Golden Eagles out-rebounded Seton Hall, 35-28.
Brian Laing led Seton Hall with 17
points, while Jamar Nutter scored 16. Seton hall shot 46.7 percent
for the game, but was just 1-of-7 from 3-point range in the second
half.
The Golden Eagles face BYU, 8:30
p.m., Friday, in second round action.
--ORU--
