Oral Roberts Escapes With OT Victory

Originally Published: Feb 4, 2010 8:40 PM CDT

Corey DeMoss
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

FORT WAYNE, Indiana – The Oral Roberts men did not hold a lead at any point in regulation, but still managed to come away with a 71-68 victory in overtime over Purdue-Fort Wayne Thursday.

With the score tied at 61 and time winding down, Michael Craion came away with a steal to give the Golden Eagles (14-10) a chance to win the game. But Dominique Morrison missed a layup with three seconds left to force the game into overtime.

After the teams stayed close throughout overtime, IPFW’s Ben Botts had a chance to tie the score at the free-throw line with 13 seconds left. Botts missed the second of his free throws, but pulled down his own rebound only to have it stolen back by ORU’s Kyron Stokes.

Morrison then made up for his miss at the end of regulation by making two clutch free throws. IPFW missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer to seal the win for the Golden Eagles.

ORU trailed by as much as 15 points in the second half, but responded by going on a 10-0 to get back within striking distance. The Golden Eagles then went on a 7-1 to end regulation and force the extra period.

Warren Niles led all scorers with 21 points, and Morrison finished with 15. All five of IPFW’s starters scored in double figures, but the Mastodons got only one point from their bench.

ORU has now won four games in a row, and will try to keep the winning streak going at 5 p.m. Saturday against Oakland.