Tulsa Claims PSO Mayor’s Cup with 79-65 Win Over Oral Roberts

Monday, November 28

Tulsa, Okla.

7 p.m.

Tulsa

3-2

Oral Roberts

1-5

Tulsa

Oral Roberts

Photo by: Dave Crenshaw

Tulsa Claims PSO Mayor’s Cup with 79-65 Win Over Oral Roberts

11/28/2016 10:02:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Don Tomkalski

FINAL STATS PDF I FINAL STATS HTML I SEASON STATS PDF I PHOTO GALLERY

Tulsa used a 16-0 run in the second half to separate from the ORU Golden Eagles for a 79-65 victory in the 52^nd meeting of the PSO Mayor's Cup Monday night in front of 4,230 fans at the ORU Mabee Center. The Hurricane won its third straight game to move to 3-2 on the season, while ORU fell to 1-5.

Jaleel Wheeler's 15 points led five Tulsa players in double-figures, followed by 14 points from Corey Henderson Jr., 12 by Pat Birt and 10 each from Junior Etou and Travis Atson. Etou had a team-high 10 rebounds, while Wheeler and Birt led the Hurricane with four assists apiece.

The Hurricane dominated the boards, out-rebounding ORU by 21, with a season-high 50 to 29 rebounding advantage. Tulsa's bench was instrumental in the victory, out-scoring the Golden Eagles reserves 35-1. Tulsa also outscored ORU 39-24 in the paint, but the host team had a 23-4 scoring edge off turnovers against the Hurricane.

For the game, Tulsa shot 45-percent from the field, 42-percent from three-point range and 81-percent from the free throw line.

"I thought it was a good win for us and our guys played extremely hard. Defensively once we started getting consecutive stops it really helped," said Tulsa Head Coach Frank Haith. "This team is capable of having a number of guys play well. We had five guys in double figures. Offensively, I thought we shared the ball better in the second half, we took some quick shots in the first half, but did a much better job in the second. The other key was our ability to rebound the basketball, which limited them to one shot and that was the difference in the game."

Tulsa led at the intermission 39-36, and held onto the lead until ORU tied the score at 47-47 with just under 15 minutes left. ORU took its first lead since 6:38 of the first half, 49-47, at the 14:12 mark of the second half. Travis Atson's trey put Tulsa back ahead 50-49 on the subsequent trip down the floor for the Hurricane.

The Golden Eagles scored the next four points taking a 53-50 lead into the 11:46 media timeout. Trailing by three points, the Hurricane scored 16 straight points over the next 4:19 to take over the game for a 13-point lead at 66-53 with 7:02 left to play. Will Magnay's dunk at the 11:21 mark began Tulsa's 16-0 run as the Hurricane knocked down three treys during that stretch.

ORU ended the Tulsa scoring streak on an Emmanuel Nzekwesi layup with 6:50 on the clock. Wheeler then scored four straight points to put the Hurricane ahead by 16 points. Tulsa had its biggest lead of 17 points three times during the final 3:14 before ORU's Corey Young knocked down a three-pointer with 0:23 remaining to make the final score 79-65.

ORU jumped out to an 8-2 lead early in the contest and led 14-6 at the 16:18 mark before Tulsa went on a 7-0 run. Wheeler's layup with 13:35 left on the clock pulled the Hurricane to within one point at 14-13.

Birt's three-pointer from the left elbow knotted the sore for the first time at 28-28, while Henderson's try gave Tulsa a 31-28 lead before ORU tied it with a three of their own. Etou's jumper put Tulsa back ahead 33-31 as the Hurricane held onto the lead the remainder of the first half.

Tulsa took a 36-31 lead on a Magnay lay-in with 3:16 remaining on the first-half clock, and once again went ahead by five points at 39-34 on Atson's traditional three-point play with 1:20 left on the clock.

The Golden Eagles closed the gap to three points, 39-36, at halftime. In the first half, Birt led nine players in the scoring column with eight points, as Tulsa made 41-percent of its field goals, and held ORU to 37-percent shooting.

Tulsa will cross the Oklahoma-Arkansas border to face the Little Rock Trojans on Saturday with a 3:00 p.m. tip-off time.

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