Box Score TULSA, Okla. ? The UALR men's basketball team (6-1) squandered a 13-point second half lead on Monday night, but pulled things together in the closing minutes to knock off Oral Roberts, 69-66, at the Mabee Center. The Trojans trailed 66-62 with 4:05 left to play, but closed out the game with seven unanswered points and held the Golden Eagles (2-6) scoreless the rest of the way.
Junior Steven Moore led the Trojans with a season-high 19 points off the bench, while senior Shane Edwards and sophomore Matt Mouzy added 13 points a piece. Moore (3-for-3) and Mouzy (4-for-6) combined to go 7-of-9 from three-point range, helping the Trojans shoot 75.0 percent from beyond the arc as a team (9-of-12).
ORU's Marcus Lewis went 11-for-16 from the field and led all players with 23 points in the losing effort. Robert Jarvis, who entered the game averaging a team-high 20 points per game, managed just six points off 2-of-13 shooting (1-of-9 from three-point range).
“I'm really proud of our guys. They showed some tougness and some togetherness. We knew we were going to face their best shot in the second half,” said UALR head coach Steve Shields. “They're a very good basketball team that can score it in bunches, and I thought John Fowler did an exceptional job guarding Jarvis.”
UALR took its biggest lead of the night, 49-36, off a three-pointer from Fowler with 15:23 to go, but ORU cut its deficit to four points, 49-45, with a quick 9-0 spurt. The Trojans extended their lead back to 11 points, 58-47, thanks to two three pointers from Mouzy and a trey from Moore, but ORU answered with a 19-4 run as the Trojans went cold from the field ? hitting just one field goal over the next 9:17.
Down 66-62, the Trojans pulled within a point off a 1-for-2 trip to the foul line by freshman Courtney Jackson and a bucket by Edwards. Trailing 66-65, the Trojans reclaimed the lead for good when Fowler found junior Wayne Burton under the basket with 59 seconds to go. Burton made the first start of his collegiate career on Monday, and answered with six points and a team-high eight rebounds.
Leading 67-66, Fowler came up with a steal on ORU's ensuing possession and senior Brandon Patterson knocked down 1-of-2 foul shots to put UALR ahead, 68-66, with 32.1 seconds remaining. Down two, Jarvis got past his defender and into the lane but missed a one-hander from five feet out. Fowler went to the foul line after Jarvis' miss and converted 1-of-2 to make it a 69-66 contest with 11 seconds left. ORU had one last chance, but Jarvis missed a deep three pointer from the top of the arc in the closing seconds.
UALR had a 20-to-10 rebounding edge at the break, but was outrebounded 24-to-17 in the second half with ORU grabbing 10 offensive boards.
“We got a little bit lax on the defensive glass in the second half, but we really showed some toughness and resiliency in the last three minutes of the game,” added Shields. “We just need to build off of this, going back home with Wright State coming in. They are a team that won 21 games a year ago and have both of their leading scorers back from last season. They're a really good basketball team, and we have to get prepared for them and keep an edge about us.”
The Trojans took a 17-11 lead out of the gate, as Edwards set the tone by scoring nine of UALR's first 17 points. His three pointer with 12:21 on the clock put UALR on top 17-11, but the Golden Eagles answered with a 10-0 run to go ahead, 21-17. Trailing by four, Moore delivered consecutive three pointers to reclaim the lead, 23-21.
Leading 33-31 after a pair of foul shots from Kyron Stokes with 3:37 left in the half, the Trojans closed out the half with an 8-1 run to take a 41-32 lead into the break. Moore scored six of UALR's eight points during the 8-1 run by knocking down a jumper and going 4-for-4 at the foul line. Moore had a nearly flawless first half, going 4-for-5 from the field (2-for-2 from three-point range) and 4-for-4 at the foul line.
ORU went 9-of-16 from the field at the start of the game (56.3 percent), but connected on just 2-of-9 over the final 6:50 of the half. The Trojans, meanwhile, shot 55.6 percent from the floor over the first 20 minutes (15-of-27) and enjoyed a +10 edge on the glass (20-to-10). Lewis paced the Golden Eagles with 11 points at the break, scoring ORU's first seven points of the game.
UALR returns to action Friday night when it hosts Wright State at 7 p.m.
