ORU men win 3rd straight Mayor’s Cup game over Tulsa

TULSA — The Oral Roberts University men’s basketball team defeated Tulsa 7970 Saturday evening at the ORU Mabee Center for the third straight win over the Golden Hurricane and extend the Golden Eagles home game win streak to 19.

In front of a rowdy crowd just shy of 7,000, the ORU men put on a show with two 20-point scorers. Issac McBride led the Golden Eagles (3-4) with his fifth-straight 20-plus point outing. McBride went 7-for-15 in his 40 minutes for 22 points. DeShang Weaver had his first 20 point outing of the season, it was the fifth of his career.

Weaver started the night 5-for-5 from the 3-point line with 15 points in the first seven minutes of play giving ORU its largest lead of the first half 17-11.

Tulsa then sparked a 9-1 run to take a two point lead with just less 10 minutes to go. The Golden Eagles then had a onepoint lead with 6:43 left on the clock before Tulsa went on an 8-0 run for its largest lead of the night 33-26 in two minutes.

The Golden Eagles responded with a 6-0 run to pull to within one. Tulsa managed to take a 39-36 lead in to halftime after finishing the first half shooting 46 percent from the field. All 20 of Weaver’s points came in the first half as he shot 6-for-9 from the field and 5-for-7 from three-point range With five lead changes and four ties, the second half became a shootout between the two crosstown rivals. Both teams would gain three or four point leads before the other would claw back. After leading by as much as four with 10:40 to go, Tulsa then led by two with 6:52 on the clock.

After a pair of free-throws by McBride to tie the game, it would be the last time the Golden Hurricane had a lead. With the game tied at 60-all with 5:22 to play, ORU began an 11-0 run that was highlighted by a 3-pointer by Kareem Thompson, a two-point jumper by McBride, a 3-pointer by Trey Phipps and another trey by McBride in a span of 3:30. With 1:09 left, ORU led 74-62, its largest lead of the night.

Free-throws down the stretch kept Tulsa at arms-length and the Golden Eagles would win it 79-70 for their 19th straight home victory inside the ORU Mabee Center.

In defeat, P.J. Haggerty led the Golden Hurricane (4-2) with 17 points, hitting 6-of-12 from the floor and knocking down his only 3-point attempt. Cobe Williams scored 14 and Keaston Willis, making his debut in a Golden Hurricane uniform, scored 10. Jared Garcia had a team-high seven boards.

Tulsa was slated to return to action Tuesday night with a home game against Loyola of Chicago at the Donald W. Reynolds Center, while ORU will entertain Ozark Christian at 7 p.m. Saturday at the ORU Mabee Center.