TULSA—
Marcus Lewis (Long Beach, Calif.) tied a
season-high with 26 points to lead Oral Roberts University to a
67-51 Summit League win over Southern Utah, Saturday at Mabee
Center. The victory is ORU's seventh straight, and keeps the Golden
Eagles tied atop the conference standings with North Dakota
State.
Lewis was 11-of-13 from the field and 4-of-8 from the free throw
line, adding nine rebounds and two blocks in 31 minutes. Robert
Jarvis (Humble, Texas) added 16 points for ORU (10-11, 8-1
Summit) in
Scott Sutton's 300th game as the Golden Eagles'
head coach.
Kevin Ford (Portland, Ore.) chipped in 10 points,
seven rebounds, three blocks and two steals.
While ORU led for nearly the entire game, it wasn't the runaway the
final score indicates. Leading 33-18 with just over two minutes
remaining before halftime, the Golden Eagles allowed Southern Utah
(6-14, 4-5) to finish the half with a 6-1 spurt, making it a 34-24
game at the break.
The T-Birds continued to hang around in the second half. After ORU
pushed the lead to 44-30 on a Jarvis three with 14:52 to play, SUU
went on a 7-0 run to get within 44-37 on a Jaren Jeffrey dunk with
11:52 to play.
The Golden Eagles methodically regained control of the game over
the next six minutes. A three-point play by Jarvis made it 49-39,
and a pair of free throws by Ford put ORU up, 51-39. Two more free
throws by Jarvis and a Lewis layup with 6:27 remaining gave ORU a
55-39 lead. Southern Utah never got any closer.
Tyler Quinney and Jeffrey led Southern Utah with 12 points
apiece.
ORU shot 53.3 percent from the field, while limiting the
Thunderbirds to 32 percent shooting. ORU was 16-of-23 from the
line, compared with 18-of-23 for Southern Utah. The T-Birds edged
ORU in rebounding 31-30.
While the Golden Eagles turned it over 18 times, ORU converted
SUU's 17 turnovers into 25 points. The Golden Eagles also owned a
34-14 scoring advantage in the paint.
The Golden Eagles return to action when they begin a three-game
road swing at Centenary, 2:30 p.m., Saturday in Shreveport, La.
--ORU--
