Tulsa 73, Oral Roberts 66 (OT)

TULSA, Okla. (AP) _ Tulsa coach John Phillips likened the annual Tulsa-Oral Roberts basketball game to a backyard tilt between brothers. <br><br>This year, the brother from the north side won as Tulsa

Saturday, December 1st 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

TULSA, Okla. (AP) _ Tulsa coach John Phillips likened the annual Tulsa-Oral Roberts basketball game to a backyard tilt between brothers.

This year, the brother from the north side won as Tulsa outlasted crosstown rival Oral Roberts 73-66 in overtime Saturday.

The win helped the Golden Hurricane (3-1) rebound after a loss earlier in the week to Arkansas.

Oral Roberts (1-5) played tough down the stretch, outscoring TU 36-27 in the second period, but failed to stay with Tulsa in the extra 5-minute period. ORU got its first win of the young season Tuesday over Binghampton.

``I wish those guys the best. They're our neighbors,'' said Phillips, who has witnessed the rivalry for more than 20 years as a TU assistant and a spectator.

The intensity of Saturday's game should make both teams better, he said.

``It doesn't matter what their record is and how bad they're playing, when they play us they play their best,'' said Dante Swanson, who led Tulsa with 15 points.

Tulsa had five players in double figures. Charlie Davis and Antonio Reed had 14 each. Davis also led with 11 rebounds.

Markius Barnes shot 27 for Oral Roberts and Luke Spencer-Gardner had 17.

Despite a second straight overtime loss to Tulsa, ORU coach Scott Sutton said he hoped his team could transfer the intensity of the rival game to the rest of the season.

``It seems like we get up for TU, but we don't get up for anybody else,'' Barnes said.

Spencer-Gardner's shot from outside the arc knotted the game at 57 with 3.1 seconds to go.

Barnes 3-pointer at 2:54 in overtime gave ORU its first lead of the game, 60-59. But 3-pointers from Swanson and Reed and free throw shooting by Reed and Greg Harrington secured the win for Tulsa.

Tulsa shot 83 percent from the line but only 44 percent from the field. Oral Roberts shot 35 percent from the field.

Harrington had 12 points for Tulsa and Kevin Johnson 11. Richie Myers had 12 for Oral Roberts.