ORU Releases Men's Basketball Schedule

Oral Roberts released its 2012-13 men's basketball schedule on Tuesday and it should get Golden Eagles fans pretty fired up even with the small number of nonconference home games.

The schedule is highlighted by home games against Oklahoma and Tulsa, road contests against Memphis and Arizona, and a trip to the prestigious Great Alaska Shootout.

"We are excited about our schedule," coach Scott Sutton said in a press release. "It is obviously very challenging with road games against Arizona and Memphis, and we will play a very good mid-major field in the Great Alaska Shootout. We are excited about taking Damen (Bell-Holter) home to Alaska to be able to play in front of family and friends."

The first game for the Golden Eagles will be Nov. 1 as ORU hosts the first of two exhibition games, facing Missouri Southern and then Oklahoma Wesleyan on Nov. 5. Both games will start at 7 p.m. at the Mabee Center.

Regular season play begins Nov. 9 with a trip to UTEP, and after a home game with St. Gregory's on Nov. 14, ORU will take an extended road trip west to face Pacific on Nov. 19 in a return game from the 2010 BracketBuster contest, and from there travel up to Alaska for the 2012 Great Alaska Shootout, which will be televised by CBS Sports Network.

Right now, the Golden Eagles are slated to face Loyola Marymount in the first round of the Shootout on Nov. 22 at 8 p.m. CST. Other teams in the tournament include UC Riverside, Northeastern, Belmont, Alaska Anchorage, Texas State and Charlotte.

Oklahoma comes to the Mabee Center on Nov. 28 for a 7 p.m. contest, before ORU heads back on the road to face Missouri State on Dec. 1 and Texas State on Dec. 5. The third road game of the stretch will be out to Tuscon, Ariz., to face the Arizona Wildcats on Dec. 18.

The Mayor's Cup contest against Tulsa will take place Dec. 22 at 7 p.m. at ORU before closing out the bulk of nonconference play with a trip to Memphis on Dec. 28.

"We don't have many nonconference home games, but we will host quality opponents in Oklahoma and Tulsa and will hopefully get an attractive BracketBuster game," Sutton said.

Southland Conference play begins on the road with trips to Southeastern Louisiana and Nicholls State on Jan. 3 and Jan. 5, respectively. The conference home opener will be Northwestern State on Jan. 10 with Stephen F. Austin coming to the Mabee Center on Jan. 12. All conference games will begin at 7:30 p.m. and will be part of a double-header with the women's basketball team.

ORU will again host a BracketBuster contest, facing an opponent to be named later on Feb. 23 at the Mabee Center.

Trips to Lamar (March 2) and Central Arkansas (March 9) finish out the regular season before the Golden Eagles head to Katy, Texas, for the 2012 Southland Conference Tournament.

As announced by the conference over the summer, the top eight teams will make the tournament. The top four seeds will receive a bye to the quarterfinals of the tournament, with the top two seeds receiving a bye all the way to the semifinals of the tournament.