TULSA�€"Oral Roberts University limited IUPUI to 29.2
percent shooting and four Golden Eagles scored in double figures in
a convincing 75-54 win in the Mid-Continent Conference Tournament
semifinals, Monday at John Q. Hammons Arena.
With the win ORU
(22-10) advances to the Mid-Con title game for the third straight
year. The Golden Eagles will face second-seeded Oakland, 6 p.m.,
Tuesday. The game will be televised live on ESPN.
ORU turned up the defense almost from the start, opening the game
by holding the Jaguars (15-15) scoreless for the first 6:29 while
bolting to an 11-0 lead.
After a
three-pointer by IUPUI�€™s David Barlow made it
18-7 with 11:13 to play in the half, ORU quickly pushed the lead
over 15 points. Consecutive baskets by Caleb Green (Tulsa, Okla.)
gave ORU a 22-7 lead with 9:19 remaining in the half, and layups by
Ken Tutt (Garland, Texas) and Shawn King (Bequia, St. Vincent) put
the Golden Eagles comfortably ahead at 26-7 with 5:53 to go before
halftime.
The Golden Eagles
led 37-16 at halftime, limiting the Jags to five field goals on
19.2 percent shooting.
IUPUI tried to make
a game of it early in the second half, outscoring ORU 12-6 over the
first three minutes to pull within 43-28 on a pair of Austin
Montgomery free throws with 16:59 left.
ORU regrouped and
pushed the lead back over 20 points when Adam Liberty (Oklahoma
City, Okla.) capped a 5-0 burst with a layup to make it 62-39 with
6:28 to play. IUPUI never got closer than 18 points the rest of the
way.
ORU shot 45.8
percent from the field and was 15-of-19 from the free throw line.
The Golden eagles owned a 41-30 rebounding advantage and committed
just 10 turnovers.
Green led all
scorers with 25 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the floor and a
9-o-10 effort from the line. The three-time Mid-Con Player of the
year inched closer to becoming the league�€™s
all-time leading scorer. He enters Tuesday�€™s
title game 27 points shy of passing former UMKC great Michael
Watson.
King added 14
points, eight rebounds and a pair of blocked shots, while Liberty
scored 11 with five assists and Tutt chipped in 10 and is 20 points
shy of 2,000.
Barlow led IUPUI
with 17 points.
--ORU--
