FT. WAYNE, Ind.—
Shawn King (Bequia, St. Vincent) set
career-highs with 21 points and seven blocked shots, and also
grabbed 11 rebounds to lead Oral Roberts University to a 68-56
Summit League win over IPFW, Thursday at Memorial Coliseum.
King helped the Golden Eagles (9-5, 4-0 Summit) remain perfect in
conference play and atop the league standings. IPFW (5-11, 2-3)
dropped its fourth straight game.
While King was dominating the middle on both ends of the floor,
point guard
Adam Liberty (Oklahoma City, Okla.) helped pull
ORU out an offensive funk mid-way through the second half.
After leading 36-26 at halftime, the Golden Eagles allowed the
Mastodons to get back in the game. IPFW opened the half with a 15-4
run, taking its first lead when a pair of Ben Botts free throws
gave IPFW a 41-40 lead with 12:45 left.
The teams traded ties and leads over the next six minutes before
ORU finally surged ahead. Trailing 53-51 with six minutes left,
Liberty drained a three-pointer from the left wing for a 54-53 lead
at 6:02.
Each team traded single free to make it 55-54, and Liberty sank his
second trey of the game with 3:51 to go for a 58-54 ORU lead. An
offensive rebound and stick-back by Yemi
Ogunoye (Cedar Hill, Texas) extended the lead to 60-54 with
2:21 left, and a pair of free throws by King made it 62-54 with
1:42 to play.
While the Golden Eagles were finding their offensive legs, the
defense was smothering the Mastodons, limiting IPFW to 1-for-9
shooting and two points over the final five minutes.
King finished 8-of-14 from the field and 5-of-6 from the line in 31
minutes. After going scoreless in the first half, Liberty scored 11
points in the second half. He also added five rebounds and a pair
of assists with zero turnovers in 37 minutes. Robert
Jarvis (Humble, Texas) scored 13 points off the bench, going
8-for-8 from the free throw line.
Jaraun Burrows led IPFW with 14 points and 11 rebounds. David
Carson added 12 points.
ORU shot 42.3 percent from the field, and limited the Mastodons to
34.5 percent shooting. ORU out-rebounded IPFW, 40-31.
The Golden Eagles return to action when they visit Oakland, 12 noon
CST, Saturday in Rochester, Mich.
--ORU--
