Tonight’s Game The Golden Eagles visit UALR for an intra-conference tilt on Monday ... this is ORU’s fifth consecutive road game and its first visit to Little Rock ... despite their proximity to each other ORU and UALR are playing for just the second time ... tonight’s game is the second in a four-year, four-game series which runs through the 2011-12 season ... after concluding a five-game road swing tonight, the Golden Eagles play their next three contests at home ... sophomore forward Dominique Morrison will start his 38th consecutive game tonight.
The Coaches ORU’s Scott Sutton is in his 11th season as the head coach of the Golden Eagles, and his 15th overall with the program. Sutton is 187-129 (.592) as head coach and ranks second in school history in career wins. He is the son of legendary coach Eddie Sutton, and the younger brother of former Oklahoma State head coach Sean Sutton. Scott Sutton is a two-time Summit League Coach of the Year (2002, 2008) and earned NABC District 12 co-Coach of the Year in 2005, sharing the award with his father. In 2007, Sutton was a finalist for the Clair Bee Coaching Excellence Award. Since the start of the 2001-02 season, Sutton has posted a 164-93 (.638) record, including four 20-win seasons, four consecutive Summit League regular-season titles (2005-08), and three straight NCAA Tournament appearances (2006-08). UALR’s Steve Shields is 107-77 in his seventh season with the Trojans.
Cancun Challenge Leftovers The Golden Eagles completed play with a 2-2 record at the Cancun Challenge, including an 83-81 win at Stanford ... in games played in Cancun, ORU lost to Sam Houston State (71-65) and defeated Florida A&M (72-51) ... sophomore forward Dominique Morrison was named to the all-tournament team after averaging 15.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.5 steals in two Cancun games ... freshman guard Warren Niles averaged 13.5 points in two games in Cancun ... walk-on senior Joe Moore made his first career 3-pointer in the win over Florida A&M ... ORU owned a plus-10.5 rebounding margin in two games.
Pearson to Miss Remainder of Season With ACL Injury Oral Roberts junior point guard Roderick Pearson (Kansas City, Mo.) will miss the remainder of the 2009-10 basketball season after suffering an ACL injury to his left knee in a Nov. 21 contest against Virginia. Pearson was injured as he drove to the basket during the first half of ORU’s 76-55 loss to the Cavaliers in Charlottesville, Va. He becomes the third Golden Eagle to suffer an ACL injury this season, joining freshman point guard Hunter McClintock (Durham, N.C.) and redshirt freshman forward Tim Morton (Greenbelt, Md.), who both sustained their injuries during an Oct. 30 practice. “Our worst fears were confirmed this morning,” said head coach Scott Sutton. “I’m very disappointed for Rod and for the team, but we’re confident surgery will go well and he’ll be back to 100 percent by next summer.” Pearson, who sat out last season after transferring from Southeast Missouri State, started ORU’s first four games and averaged 4.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.8 assists. On Nov. 21, Pearson converted an 18-foot buzzer beater to propel ORU to an 83-81 win at Stanford.
On the Rebound Since getting out-rebounded badly in a season-opening loss to Wake Forest (51-25), the Golden Eagles are out-rebounding their opponents by 9.6 boards per game in over the last five contests. Despite the lopsided numbers against Wake, ORU owns a plus-3.7 rebounding margin for the season. ORU has out-rebounded its opponents in four of the last five games.
Freshmen of Influence Forward Damen Bell-Holter and guard Warren Niles are making a positive impact on the Golden Eagles. Through six games, the duo is combining for 17.1 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. Niles has enjoyed four double-digit scoring games, including a 16-point effort vs. NW Oklahoma State, and 15 points, six rebounds and four assists against Florida A&M. Bell-Holter has been coming on strong since scoring a season-high 12 points in ORU’s 83-81 win at Stanford. The 6-10 Alaskan is averaging 7.5 points and 4.5 rebounds over his last four games.
All the Colors of the Rainbow He may not be the most colorful guy on the court, but his game makes the ORU coaches smile. Junior forward Michael Craion is perhaps ORU’s most complete player, and his efforts in the early going are making a mark. Through six games, Craion is averaging 10.3 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. He has scored in double figures four times, has a pair of double-digit rebounding games and one double-double. Craion also leads the Golden Eagles at the free throw line, where he is a perfect 12-for-12 entering Monday’s game at UALR.
Giant Killers Every season since 2002-03, ORU has pulled off at least one upset of a power conference team. After knocking off Stanford on Nov. 18, the Golden Eagles have two other chances to add to their growing hit list: vs. Missouri (Dec. 9), and at Louisville (Dec. 16). Date Opponent Score Notes 11/26/02 Arkansas (H) 76-64 First win over Arkansas since ‘96 11/30/02 Wichita State (H) 76-71 Part of 6-0 start to season 12/20/03 Wichita State (A) 76-73 First game in WSU’s renovated Koch Arena 12/20/04 Georgetown (N)* 81-63 Eagles defeated Hoyas squad with Jeff Green, Roy Hibbert 2/19/05 Missouri State (A) 86-76 Sutton defeats the man he replaced as ORU head coach 11/23/05 Southern Cal (N)^ 68-48 First win over a Pac-10 team in 23 years 11/15/06 No. 3 Kansas (A) 78-71 Highest-ranked opponent ever defeated 12/28/06 Seton Hall (N)% 76-74 Second win over Big East team in three years 12/20/07 Oklahoma State (N)& 74-59 First Sutton vs. Sutton battle goes to little bro 12/22/08 South Florida (N)* 86-63 Third win over Big East foe in five years 11/18/09 Stanford (A)# 83-81 Roderick Pearson’s buzzer beater the difference *-Rainbow Classic; ^-Great Alaska Shootout; %-BYU Holiday Classic; &-All-College Classic; *-San Juan Shootout; #-Cancun Challenge
Kansas City Kings The 2009-10 Golden Eagles roster contains a rarity for any program: three players from the same out-of-state city. Juniors Michael Craion (Ruskin HS) and Rod Pearson (Raytown South HS), and sophomore Dominique Morrison (Raytown HS) all live in Kansas City, Mo. The last time ORU had three or more players on the roster from the same out-of-state city was in 1987-88 when four players hailed from Charlotte, N.C.: Rodney Davis (Myers Park HS), Anthony Houston (Harding HS), Jules Springs (West HS) and Haywoode Workman (Myers Park HS).
McClintock, Morton Suffer Season-Ending Injuries in Same Practice Freshman guard Hunter McClintock and redshirt freshman forward Tim Morton will miss the 2009-10 season after suffering season-ending ACL injuries during the same practice on October 30. A projected starter in the back court, McClintock suffered the injury to his right knee when he stepped on a teammate’s foot during a routine drill. He is expected to have surgery at the end of the month and will be out up to six months. Morton sustained a left ACL tear about 20 minutes after McClintock’s injury. He will also have surgery later this month and will be out up to six months. The injuries, combined with APR penalties, leave ORU with just 10 scholarship players at the start of the 2009-10 season.
At Home in Mabee Center ORU has experienced a basketball rebirth over the last six seasons, and nowhere has that been more evident than in games played at Mabee Center. Since the start of the 2002-03 season, ORU is 76-12 (.864) at home and an amazing 51-5 (.911) in conference play in that time.
Angsomwine Inks NLI During Early Signing Period Chris Angsomwine has signed a National Letter-of-Intent to play basketball at Oral Roberts University, head coach Scott Sutton announced today. A 6-9, 215-pound forward at Kilgore (Texas) College, Angsomwine is ORU’s first 2010 signee. He will have two years of eligibility when he enrolls next fall. Angsomwine is in his first year with Rangers after spending last season at Harcum College in suburban Philadelphia. Kilgore is 2-0 with Angsomwine averaging 6.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. As a freshman at Harcum Angsomwine averaged 1.2 points and 1.9 rebounds while playing in 15 games for the Bears.
ORU in Summit League Play ORU is 132-56 (.702) in regular season Summit League play all-time in 12 seasons. ORU owns the second-best winning percentage in League history, behind only former member Missouri State’s .767 (79-24) clip. The Golden Eagles have captured five regular-season titles (‘99, ‘05, ‘06, ‘07, ‘08) and three tournament championships (‘06, ‘07, ‘08). Since the 2004-05 season, ORU is 68-14 (.829) in Summit League regular season play, and 79-16 (.832) when including Summit League Tournament games.
Fox College Sports, KGEB to Broadcast All Home Games For the second straight season ORU Athletics has partnered with University-owned Golden Eagle Broadcasting and Fox College Sports to televise all men’s basketball regular-season home games. Both outlets will also carry the weekly ORU Sports Report. Golden Eagle Broadcasting affiliate KGEB will televise all home games locally, with weekend games showing live and weekday contests tape-delayed at 10 p.m. Fox College Sports will televise all games live nationally on cable and satellite systems across the country. Mabee Center Productions will handle production duties for all broadcasts. Fox College Sports is available in over 40 million households across the country on most major cable systems including Time Warner, Comcast and Charter Communications, as well as DirecTV (Ch. 617). FCS consists of three channels: FCS Atlantic, FCS Central and FCS Pacific. Rob Loeber will again serve as the play-by-play announcer for all broadcasts. Color duties will be split between former ORU standout Mickey Michalec and longtime analyst Bryndon Manzer.
ORU Picked Second in Summit League Preseason Poll ORU was picked second in the annual Summit League preseason poll of head coaches, media members and Sports Information Directors. Oakland was the overwhelming preseason favorite, garnering 34 of 35 first place votes while third place IUPUI received the other. After Oakland, ORU and IUPUI, the others are South Dakota State, North Dakota State, IPFW, Southern Utah, Western Illinois, UMKC, and Centenary.
Ford, Morrison Named Preseason All-Summit League Forwards Kevin Ford and Dominique Morrison were named to the Summit League’s preseason second team. Ford, a senior, averaged 9.4 points and 7.4 rebounds while Morrison, a sophomore, averaged 9.6 points and 3.2 rebounds in starting all 31 games. Both players were named to the 2009 All-Newcomer team.
Outstanding Home Schedule The Golden Eagles boast one of their most exciting home schedules in recent memory this season. ORU hosts Missouri (Dec. 9), New Mexico (Dec. 23) and Tulsa (Jan. 20) in addition to 10 other home conference and non-conference games. Missouri is the first Big 12 squad to visit Mabee Center since Texas Tech in 2001, and the TU game will be the first played after December since 1997.
ORU Chosen for 2010 BracketBusters For the fifth time in six years, ORU has been selected to participate in the ESPN BracketBusters. The eighth annual BracketBusters event, a two-day men’s college basketball extravaganza pitting potential NCAA Tournament hopefuls against each other Feb. 19-20, will feature 11 nationally televised games – on either ESPN2 or ESPNU -- selected from a pool of 98 teams. ORU is 1-3 in Bracket Busters-related games. The Golden Eagles hosted nationally televised games against Utah State (2007) and Creighton (2008).
ORU Basketball on the Radio All ORU games can be heard in northeastern Oklahoma on “The Sports Animal”, 97.1 FM and 1550 AM. Geoff Haxton begins his third full season as the play-by-play voice of the Golden Eagles. Fans can also listen on-line at www.orugoldeneagles.com. The pregame show begins 15 minutes prior to tip-off.
The ORU Coaches Hour Join ORU coaches and athletes every Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. for the ORU Coaches Hour, broadcast live from Pepper’s Grill at 91st & Delaware and carried on FM 97.1 “The Sports Animal”. Tulsa radio personality Geoff Haxton hosts the one-hour call-in show. Men’s head coach Scott Sutton and women’s head coach Jerry Finkbeiner are regular guests.
About ORU Founded in 1963 by evangelist Oral Roberts, ORU is a 400-acre campus located in South Tulsa. ORU boasts a total enrollment of over 5,000 students from all 50 states and more than 30 foreign countries. Some famous ORU alums include entertainer Kathy Lee Gifford, Pulitzer-prize nominated author Clifton Taulbert and two-time NCAA track & field national champion and 2008 Olympic silver medalist Andretti Bain. “The Simpsons” creator Matt Groening briefly attended ORU, and subsequently, many of the characters on the show are modeled after former ORU students and staff members. In fact, if you look closely over Ned Flanders’ fireplace, his college diploma reads “Oral Roberts University”.
About The Summit League Now in its 28th year as an NCAA Division I athletics conference, The Summit League is in its third year under that name. In May 2007, the Presidents Council embraced the Summit Plan, a strategic plan that places a renewed emphasis on improving the academic and athletic performances of all its student-athletes. Included in the plan was the creation of a new image of the conference and the unveiling of a new name. The Summit League is the third name the conference has held as an NCAA sanctioned league. The Summit League’s 10 member schools are Centenary College of Louisiana, IPFW, IUPUI, UMKC, North Dakota State University, Oakland University, ORU, South Dakota State University, Southern Utah University and Western Illinois University. The member schools pride themselves on providing quality athletic, academic and social experiences for their student-athletes. The Summit League sponsors 19 championship sports, which include: baseball, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s soccer, softball, men’s and women’s swimming & diving, men’s and women’s indoor track & field, men’s and women’s outdoor track & field, men’s and women’s tennis, and volleyball. The League offices are located in suburban Chicago.
Up Next The Golden Eagles return to Mabee Center where they begin a three-game homestand against Summit League foe UMKC, 7 :05 p.m., Thursday. ORU also hosts Southern Utah (Dec. 5) and Missouri (Dec. 9) during the homestand.
Courtesy: ORU Media Relations
