Golden Eagles Fall To Gonzaga After Leading Early

NewsOn6.com

SPOKANE, Washington – The Golden Eagles put up a valiant effort against the Gonzaga Bulldogs on Thursday in Spokane but couldn't hang on in a 67-61 loss.

ORU actually held a 27-20 lead early in the game but gave it up toward the end of the first half.

Coach Scott Sutton said he thought his team got rattled a bit and lost their composure.

"Five of our nine turnovers came during that span, we didn't block out on free throws and didn't get back in transition and instead of going into halftime with a lead, we were playing catch up," Sutton said. "I'm proud of my guys for battling. I really thought we competed tonight against a very good basketball team."

Gonzaga actually started the game with a 10-0 run, but the Golden Eagles eventually pulled it back to 18-11. At that point, Oral Roberts came back with a 16-2 run to get its biggest lead of the game at seven points.

But once again, the Bulldogs battled back with a 17-2 run of their own and never trailed again.

ORU got the game back to within two points late at 59-57, but Gonzaga hits its shots and free throws to close it out.

Damen Bell-Holter led ORU with 16 points and Michael Craion and Dominique Morrison had 13 apiece.

Oral Roberts was able to hang tight despite being outshot 51 to 40 percent.

The Golden Eagles will finish out their road trip with a game against Xavier on Sunday in Cincinnati. Tipoff is set for noon.