Golden Eagles suffer loss to UTA in opener
ARLINGTON, Texas — The Oral Roberts University men’s basketball team fell short in its season opener 7571 at Texas-Arlington Monday evening.
ARLINGTON, Texas — The Oral Roberts University men’s basketball team fell short in its season opener 75-71 at Texas-Arlington Monday evening.
The Russell Springmann era of Oral Roberts basketball began Monday evening with a battle against UTArlington in the DFW metroplex. Kareem Thompson led ORU with a career high 23 points as four Golden Eagles (0-1) scored in double digits.
Newcomer Jailen Bedford showcased his style with 11 first half points to lead all scorers going into the break. Five minutes in to the game, DeShang Weaver hit a three to put ORU up by five. With 10 minutes left, UTA would tie the game before taking a five point lead with 8:54 on the clock. The Golden Eagles would spark a 9-0 run to lead by four with five minutes to play that was capped off by a 3-point basket by Kareem Thompson. ORU would extend the run to 11-4, but with four seconds left in the half Thompson hit another three to lift his team to a 36-31 halftime lead. ORU shot 43.3 percent in the first and held the Mavericks (1-0) to 28.6 from the field.
In the second half, ORU went on a 7-0 run to go up by 11 with 17 minutes to play. A 7-0 run by UTA cut it to a four point lead with 15 minutes to play. After an offensive rebound by Thompson, DeShang Weaver cut the Mavericks’ run with a 3-pointer. However, UTA was able to tie the game at 54-all with 8:35 to play.
Down the stretch, there was back-andforth play with multiple lead changes, but UTA took a six-point lead with four minutes to go with a 9-0 run. A pair of free-throws by Issac McBride made it a four point game with 3:51 to go. Weaver hit a 3-pointer after a turnover by UTA to pull to within a point with three minutes left. The Mavericks hit a trey to make it a 70-65 game with 1:44 to go. The Mavericks would keep ORU at armslength and hold a 75-71 advantage.
Weaver had a career high eight blocks to go along with his 17 points. Bedford and McBride each ended the night with 12 points. Overall, the Golden Eagles shot 40 percent from the field and maintained a lead for 24 minutes.
ORU will head home to defend one of the nation’s longest home winning streaks with a homecoming match-up against Mid-America Christian at 7 p.m. Friday at the ORU Mabee Center.
