Akron 61, Oral Roberts 59

TULSA, Okla. (AP) Dru Joyce and Nate Linhart hit 3-pointers in the final 1:06 as Akron held off Oral Roberts 61-59 Saturday night to win its fourth straight game.<br/><br/>Romeo Travis scored 18 points

Saturday, December 2nd 2006, 9:52 pm

By: News On 6

TULSA, Okla. (AP) Dru Joyce and Nate Linhart hit 3-pointers in the final 1:06 as Akron held off Oral Roberts 61-59 Saturday night to win its fourth straight game.

Romeo Travis scored 18 points and grabbed 7 rebounds for the Zips (4-1).

Caleb Green scored 32 points, 20 in the 2nd half, to lead Oral Roberts (3-3), who rallied from a 14-point 2nd half deficit only to have Ken Tutt's jumper fall short with 1 second left.

With Oral Roberts leading 56-55, Joyce connected for 3 from the right baseline with 1:06 remaining. After Green made 2 free throws, Linhart hit the open 3 on the left baseline to make it 61-56 with 28 seconds left.

Green's putback and foul shot with 14 seconds left pulled the Golden Eagles to 61-59, and Yemi Ogunoye stole the inbounds pass. But Tutt's baseline jumper caromed off the front rim.

Green scored 11 points in a 16-3 run Oral Roberts used to take its biggest lead at 52-48 with 5:31 left. Green connected on 7-8 free throws in the spurt.

But Travis and Joyce scored on easy layups to keep Akron close.

The Zips controlled the game early, leading 38-24 barely two minutes into the second half and 34-24 at halftime.

Akron used a 14-4 run in the 1st half to take a 26-16 lead with 6:15 left. Travis scored 2 baskets during the spurt.

Joyce finished with 10 points and Jeremiah Wood added 12 for the Zips.