INDIANAPOLIS, Ind.�€"Caleb Green
(Tulsa, Okla.) had 25 points, 14 rebounds and five assists, and
Moses Ehambe (Arlington, Texas) added a
career-high 22 points off the bench as Oral Roberts University
clinched is third straight 20-win season with an 83-73
Mid-Continent Conference victory over IUPUI, Thursday at IUPUI
Gymnasium.
The
Golden Eagles (20-9, 12-1 Mid-Con) led wire-to-wire as they avoided
consecutive losses for the first time in over two months.
Green
was 6-of-15 from the field and 13-of-17 from the free throw line.
The senior forward broke his own school and conference marks for
free throws made and attempted in a season, the third straight year
he�€™s set both marks. Green is now 246-of-321
from the line in 29 games.
Ehambe
was a major key in the victory, going 8-of-10 from the field,
including 6-of-7 from 3-point range.
ORU
bolted to a 14-3 lead and never looked back. The Golden Eagles led
by as many as 16 points in the first half before settling for a
48-33 halftime lead.
The
Jaguars (13-14, 6-7) opened the second half with a 15-5 run,
pulling within 53-48 on Gary Patterson�€™s trey
with 16:02 remaining.
But
Ehambe drained a three and hit a short jumper on
ORU�€™s next two possessions, pushing the lead
back up to 10 points at 58-48.
Back-to-back jumpers by Green and a layup by Ehambe gave ORU a
64-51 lead with 10:09 to go, and the advantage remained between 11
and 13 points until IUPUI made one last push.
The
Jaguars twice closed to within six points down the stretch, the
last time coming when David Barlow�€™s layup mad
it 76-70 with 4:32 left. But ORU went on a 7-0 run over the next
2:36, gaining an 82-70 lead on a free throw by Ken
Tutt (Garland, Texas) with 1:56 left and effectively
putting the game away.
Tutt
joined Green and Ehambe in double figures, scoring 17 points,
including 15 in the first half. Tutt also tied a career high with
six rebounds.
Patterson led all scorers with 27 points, getting all of them on
nine 3-pointers. Austin Montgomery scored 14 points and Craig
Swoope added 10 off the bench.
ORU
shot 56 percent from the field, including 71.4 percent (10-14) from
3-point range, while also going 17-of-25 from the line. IUPUI was
limited to 42.6 percent shooting and was just 8-of-11 from the
line.
The
Golden Eagles conclude the regular season when they visit Oakland,
5 p.m., Saturday.
--ORU--
