ORU goes dancing in Sioux Falls
Oral Roberts basketball hasn't made much noise in recent years. Scott Sutton coached the Tulsa school to three straight NCAA Tournaments, 2006-08, but ORU basketball slid after that. The Golden Eagles jumped from the Summit League to the Southland Conference, then went back to the Summit after two seasons.
Sutton was fired in 2017 after 18 seasons and a 328-247 record. ORU didn't make many friends in Oklahoma by firing Sutton, and new coach Paul Mills didn't get anyone excited by going 39-56 his first three seasons.
But Tuesday night in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Oral Roberts got back in the relevancy business. The Golden Eagles beat North Dakota State 75-72 to win the Summit League Tournament and punch a ticket to the NCAAs.
ORU has the nation's leading scorer, Max Abmas, the guard from Dallas Jesuit who scored 36 against OSU in December. It's not like the old days of ORU basketball, when Richard Fuqua averaged 35.9 points a game in 1971-72 (Southwestern Louisiana's Bo Lamar led the NCAA at 36.3). But you take what you can get in modern basketball.
Abmas, a 90% foul shooter, missed the first of two with 15 seconds left against North Dakota State but made the second, giving ORU a 73-72 lead.
Then 6-foot-7 Latvian Francis Lacis blocked Sam Griesel's close-in shot in the final seconds – it was ruled a steal and turnover – and soon enough, the Golden Eagles were dancing on the court.
What a game. ORU led 45-20 at halftime – yes, 45-20 – and the North Dakota State slowly chipped at the lead.
The Bison tied the game with 39 seconds left on a four-point possession.
Abmas finished with 24 points, and Kevin Obanor had 17 points in the first 12 minutes. Obanor's tip-in at the buzzer had beaten South Dakota State 90-88 in the Summit semifinals.
ORU scheduled hard in this pandemic season. Road games before New Year's at Missouri, Wichita State, OSU, OU and Arkansas. Only Mizzou blew out the Golden Eagles. ORU lost 85-80 at Wichita State, 83-78 at OSU, 79-65 at OU and 87-76 at Arkansas.
ORU went 10-5 in the Summit and was the fourth seed, but with COVID cancellations, the standings were tight. South Dakota was the top seed at 9-3; that's only a half game ahead of ORU.
Sutton's teams went 0-3 in the NCAA Tournament. As a 13-seed, ORU lost to Pittsburgh 82-63 in 2008
at Denver. As a 14-seed, ORU lost to Washington State 70-54 in Sacramento. As a 16-seed, OSU lost to Memphis 94-78 in Dallas.
Back in 1984, Dick Acres coached ORU to an 11-seed, but the then-Titans were sent to Memphis to play Memphis. ORU lost 92-83.
But 1974 remains the highlight of ORU basketball. The young university obtained Division I status in 1971 and made the NCAAs in 1974 with a thrilling team. Those Titans went 23-6, averaged 94.6 points a game (second in the nation) and sported five double-digit scorers. Sharpshooter Sam McCants averaged 24.0 (without the 3-point line). Backcourt mate Al Boswell averaged 18.4. Big men Greg McDougald (15.3 points, 9.8 rebounds) and Eddie Woods (13.5, 12.1) were dominant. Freshman Anthony Roberts, who would go on to average 22.4, 24.2 and 34.0 points a game the next three years, came off the bench in 1973-74. Roberts eventually made the NBA.
I loved that team. Saw it play in the All-College
Tournament, where it beat Houston 118-108 in the semifinals, before losing to Southern Cal.
1974 was the final year of the 25-team NCAA Tournament bracket. Teams weren't publicly seeded. ORU was given a Midwest Regional quarterfinal assignment against Syracuse in Denton, Texas. The Titans won 86-82 in overtime.
Then ORU got to host the rest of the Midwest Regional at its Mabee Center. The Titans beat Louisville 96-93 in the semifinals, then lost to Kansas 93-90 in overtime, for a trip to the Final Four. Against the Jayhawks, ORU had a 77-68 lead with four minutes left in regulation.
ORU hasn't won an NCAA Tournament game since and isn't likely to next week, when the Golden Eagles will be saddled with something around a 15-seed. That means a game against Iowa or Ohio State or someone similar.
But the Golden Eagles were dancing Tuesday night in Sioux Falls.