TULSA—
Robert Jarvis (Humble, Texas) scored a game-high
21 points, and Oral Roberts University survived a late flurry by
IUPUI for a 64-63 win in a battle of Summit League co-leaders,
Thursday at Mabee Center.
ORU (11-5, 6-0) won its 21st consecutive conference home game and
won for the 27th time in its last 29 games against League
opponents. But this game was in doubt until the final buzzer.
Marcus Lewis (Long Beach, Calif.) missed a layup
with 59 seconds left and ORU leading, 64-63. IUPUI rebounded and
George Hill missed a jumper for IUPUI with 27 seconds left, but the
Jags got the offensive rebound and called timeout.
Following the timeout, Hill dribbled the shot clock down to 12
seconds and made his move to the basket. He found an open Gary
Patterson at the top of the key, but Patterson missed his
game-winning attempt and Jarvis snagged the rebound as time expired
to seal the win for ORU, its eighth in the last nine meetings with
the Jags.
After trailing the entire first half, the Golden Eagles used an 8-2
run over the final 4:04 to take a 33-31 lead into the locker room
at halftime.
ORU stretched its lead to as many as eight points in the second
half, and led 56-49 on a pair of free throws by Jarvis with 6:30
remaining.
IUPUI (13-4, 5-1) slowly chipped away at the lead. Patterson
drained a pair of free throws when Adam
Liberty (Oklahoma City, Okla.) was called for a personal foul
and a technical foul. George Hill nailed both free throws on the
personal foul, and the Jags were within 56-53 with 6:12 left.
A three-pointer by
Moses Ehambe (Arlington, Texas) and two
more free throws by Jarvis made it 62-57 with 4:34 left, but IUPUI
kept coming. A layup by Jon Avery made it 62-59 with 3:39 left.
Marchello Vealy (Oklahoma City, Okla.) made two
free throws 45 seconds apart to give the Golden Eagles a 64-59 with
2:43 to go for ORU's final points.
Jarvis was 6-of-9 from the field, including 3-of-5 from 3-point
range. He also made 6-of-8 at the line, and grabbed three rebounds.
Vealy enjoyed his second straight strong game, scoring 13 points
while making all five of his shots from the field.
Hill led the Jags with 18 points, but was just 5-of-15 from the
field. Patterson scored 15 points, while Jon Avery added 12 and
Billy Pettiford chipped in 11.
The Golden Eagles shot 51.2 percent (21-41) from the field,
including 42.9 percent (6-14) from three point range. ORU limited
IUPUI – the League's top shooting team – to 44.9 percent
from the field (22-49), including 39.3 percent in the second
half.
ORU continues Summit League play by hosting Western Illinois, 7:05
p.m., Saturday at Mabee Center.
--ORU--
