ORU Drops IUPUI to Move to Summit League Final

The Golden Eagles will try to claim their first conference tournament title since 2008.

Thursday, May 26th 2011, 12:15 pm

By: News On 6

ORU Drops IUPUI to Move to Summit League Final

Originally Published: Mar 7, 2011 10:53 PM CDT

Gerald Goodridge
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

SIOUX FALLS, South Dakota -- The Oral Roberts Golden Eagles topped IUPUI 83-77 Monday to advance to the Summit League final for the first time since the 2007-2008 season.

The Golden Eagles jumped out to an early lead, opening the game on a 7-2 run, capped off by a three-pointer by Roderick Pearson less than 90 seconds into the game. That lead held for nearly 13 minutes, but with 5:30 left in the first half, ORU strung together 11 unanswered points to take a 35-22 lead.

ORU held on to that double-digit lead for nearly the entire second half, lead only dipping to single digits in the game’s closing seconds.

Trailing by 13 point with just 24 seconds left to play, the Jaguars put out a last-second effort to get back in the game. Stephen Thomas converted on a three-point play, followed by a pair of Leroy Noble free throws to cut the lead to 82-74. Alex Young hit a three-pointer with two seconds left on the clock to close the gap to six points.

Oral Roberts junior Dominique Morrison led all scorers with 26 points, while grabbing six boards. Guard Warren Niles added 20 points in the win and Damen Bell-Holter only managed eight, but grabbed 12 rebounds.

Alex Young led IUPUI with 23 points and seven rebounds, with Christian Siakam adding 21 points and 15 boards in the loss.

The Golden Eagles will try for their first Summit League title since 2008 at 8 p.m. Tuesday against the Oakland Grizzlies.