Creighton University
Oral Roberts
Woodfox Trey, Defensive Stand Gives Men's Basketball 65-64 Win at ORU
2/23/2008 5:30:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Creighton improved to 19-8 overall, while ORU dropped to 20-7 with its first home loss in 13 games.
Woodfox, who finished with 15, continued his surge towards Valley Sixth Man of the Year honors. The junior guard made 4-of-10 shots, but his final attempt drew nothing by nylon and gave CU a one-point lead.
After the basket by Woodfox, ORU guard Adam Liberty missed a leaner with three seconds left, and Moses Ehambe's desperation three-pointer at the buzzer fell short.
Creighton scored the game's first six points and by as much as 16-8 in the first half while leading almost the entire half. ORU would take its first lead on a Robert Jarvis three-pointer with 1:17 left in the first half to go ahead 33-32. However, CU's P'Allen Stinnett had a driving lay-in with six seconds left in the first half to give the Jays a 34-33 halftime lead.
ORU went ahead 48-47 on a jumper by Jarvis, but CU retook the lead when Dane Watts banked in a three from the left wing. The Jays lead reached 55-49 when Woodfox drilled a trey with 7:12 to go.
Oral Roberts got a three-point play from Machello Vealy and a lay-in from Kelvin Sango to draw within one before Casey Harriman's trifecta from the right corner gave CU a 58-54 lead with 5:35 to go.
ORU answered with a lay-up by Sango and a jumper from Ehambe to tie the score at 58-all and 4:38 left.
Creighton up 59-58 on
Stinnett rolled in two free throws with 3:30 to go as CU's lead returned to two. On the other end, Marcus Lewis' putback tied the game, but he missed a potential go-ahead free throw.
Creighton and ORU traded four empty possessions before Stinnett was fouled with 38.6 seconds left. He missed the front end of a one-and-one, and during the scramble Jarvis was fouled.
Jarvis, an 85.2 percent shooter, hit both to give ORU a 64-62 lead, its first two-point lead of the game. CU eschewed the timeout and ran the play for Woodfox, who drained a three-pointer off a Josh Dotzler pass to push CU back ahead 65-64.
Oral Roberts was paced by 17 points off the bench from Jarvis, who was injured right before his last-minute free throws and not on the floor for the final possession. Marcus Lewis and Ehambe each scored 10 as well. ORU shot just 4-of-23 from three-point range while missing numerous contested shots.
Creighton returns to conference play on Wednesday with a 7:05 pm game at
NOTES: Among those in attendance is Creighton Athletics Hall of Famer Bob Harstad, who will also be entering the MVC Hall of Fame in March ...Booker Woodfox scored in double-digits for a ninth straight game. That is the nation's longest active streak among reserves.
