By MARLON SCOTT
Senior Staff Writer
The countdown to March Madness has begun.
As fans of college basketball start analyzing and cataloging every statistic they can find to help with their brackets. Teams are mustering their best games hoping to push a way into the big dance, the NCAA Championship.
The Govs hear the clock ticking.
After winning their last two home games, they hit the court in the Dunn Center for a third time last week to play in this season’s ESPN Bracketbuster against Oral Roberts on Saturday, Feb. 20.
The Govs started strong and looked like they had the Golden Eagles grounded by halftime.
But the Golden Eagles took off in the second half and left the Govs stunned at ground level with an 89-80 loss.
Both teams had five players score double-digit points. Senior guard Wes Channels led all players with 25 points.
The trio of Dominique Morrison, Kevin Ford and Warren Niles, terrorized the Govs. Ford led a brutal attack in the paint scoring 19 of the team’s total 46 points there.
“I thought we did alright the first half defensively,” said Govs head coach Dave Loos. “The second half they just beat us every way imaginable. They got 46 points in the paint, that says it all right there.”
The Govs set the pace from the beginning. They hit the first two shots and controlled the tempo for most of the first half. ORU kept the game close and the lead changed four times. But the Govs offense was hot and grew hotter toward the end of the first period.
The Govs shot 53 percent from the field in the first half (15-of-28) including 2-of-3 from three-point range. At halftime, they led 36-31.
Whatever speech Golden Eagles head coach Scott Sutton gave at halftime to his team worked.
The second half scoring started with a one-handed jam by ORU junior forward Michael Craion that had fans in the stands with pacemakers grabbing their chests.
The dunk initiated an 8-1 run that finished with the Golden Eagles leading 39-37 with 17:09 remaining in the game.
Two minutes later, Govs sophomore center John Fraley made a layup to tie the game 42-42. It was the last time the Govs would tie or lead the rest of the game.
The Golden Eagles scored 58 points in the second half, the Govs scored 44. Channels put up 14 of his 25 in the second half.
“We just aren’t good enough to give up 89 points and beat people,” Loos said.
The Govs are now 2-5 in the Bracketbuster series. This was just the third (11-3) loss for the Govs at home this season. They have already insured a spot in the OVC tournament and are currently tied for fourth place with Eastern Kentucky in the conference with a 10-6 record.
The Govs’ last two games of the regular season are on the road. They will play on Eastern Illinois on Thursday, Feb. 25 and then finish at Southeast Missouri on Saturday, Feb. 27. The Govs need at least one more win to clinch a game at home in the first round of the OVC Tournament.
Loading ...