Kansas City
Oral Roberts
Free Throws Lead ORU Past UMKC, 68-57
12/3/2009 11:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Tulsa, Okla. -- The UMKC men's basketball team opened Summit League play with a 68-57 road loss at Tulsa on Thursday night at the Mabee Center. The 'Roos were within three points midway through the second half before the Golden Eagles pulled away by making 11-of-13 free throws over the final 10 minutes of the contest.
Sophomore LaTreze Mushatt led a group of three UMKC players in double figures, as the forward finished with 14 points on 6-of-13 shooting. Junior Jay Couisnard scored 13 points off the bench and Trey McKinney-Jones netted 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting with 10 coming in the opening 20 minutes.
The 'Roos started the game as well as they could have hoped; as the squad built an 11-2 lead over the first three minutes behind six quick points by McKinney-Jones. ORU then began chipping away at the deficit, as it pulled to within two points (17-15) at the nine minute mark.
UMKC built its lead back to five points (21-16) with eight minutes to play in the half, before the Golden Eagles answered with a 9-4 run to even the tally at 25. After trading baskets in the closing minutes, Dominique Morrison made two free throws in the closing seconds to give ORU the 33-31 advantage at the break.
Oral Robert worked the ball inside in early in the second half, as it built a 42-36 advantage. The Golden Eagles then stretched their lead to nine (49-40) on a three point play by Michael Craion and a short jumper by Kevin Ford.
UMKC fought back to within three points (51-48) courtesy of an 8-1 run which was ignited by six points by Couisnard. ORU, however, responded with a 7-2 run with five points coming from the charity stripe, making the score 58-50 with 6:15 to play.
The 'Roos kept battling and stayed within striking distance, as the score was 60-55 with 4:20 remaining, but the Golden Eagles pulled away with an 8-2 spurt to close out the game to run out 11 point winners.
UMKC shot .460 (23-50) from the floor and .273 (3-11) from long range, while ORU finished with a .477 (21-44) field goal percentage and a .222 (2-9) performance from long range. The Golden Eagles also out rebounded the 'Roos 36-24 and committed just 10 turnovers.
The biggest disparity in the contest came from the free throw line, where ORU made 24-of-32 attempts, while the 'Roos were just 8-of-18, which included five straight misses midway through the second half.
Craion finished with a double-double with 21 points and 10 boards, while two other Golden Eagle players reached double digits. Morrison netted 15 points to go along with eight boards, while Warren Niles finished with 12 off the bench.
UMKC (3-3, 0-1) will return to action on Saturday night in Shreveport, La., against Centenary beginning at 7:30 p.m.
