Oral Roberts Wins Despite Late Shooting Drought

Robert Jarvis scored 21 points and grabbed a last-second clinching rebound to lift Oral Roberts past IUPUI 64-63 in a battle for the Summit League lead on Thursday night.

Oral Roberts (11-5, 6-0 Summit) held on to win despite not scoring after Marchello Vealy made one of two free throws with 2:43 left for a 64-59 lead. Baskets by Jon Avery at 1:49 and George Hill at 1:14 cut the Golden Eagles' advantage to one.

After Marcus Lewis missed a layup for the Golden Eagles with 59 seconds remaining, Hill misfired on a 15-foot jumper with 27 seconds left.

Billy Pettiford rebounded for IUPUI, which was able to play for the last shot. Gary Patterson missed a 3-pointer just before time expired and Jarvis rebounded to seal the outcome.

Vealy added 13 points, including nine in the second half, for the Golden Eagles. Hill led the Jaguars (13-4, 5-1) with 18 points and Patterson scored 15.

Oral Roberts led 33-31 at intermission, and extended its lead in the second half to 51-43 after a Jarvis basket with 9:40 remaining. Oral Roberts had only one field goal in the last 7:52.

IUPUI, which entered the game with 12 wins in its last 13 games, outrebounded Oral Roberts 29-25. Each team was 6-of-14 on 3-pointers and committed only eight turnovers.

Jarvis came off the bench to score 12 in the first half, including 3-of-4 3-pointers, to help ORU rally from an early 8-2 deficit. Jarvis scored 10 in his first eight minutes to cut IUPUI's lead to 18-17.

After Pettiford opened the scoring with a 3-pointer, IUPUI did not lose its lead until Lewis sank two free throws that tied the game at 31 with 51 seconds left in the first half. On IUPUI's next possession, Yemi Ogunoye came up with a steal and was fouled.

Ogunoye made both free throws to give Oral Roberts a lead going into intermission.