Deliberate foul almost 'backfired' on Golden Eagles
11/19/2009 10:39:00 AM

ORU head coach Scott Sutton admitted by phone late Wednesday night from Stanford, Calif., that his decision to deliberately foul with a three-point lead and 10 seconds left "almost backfired on us."

But Sutton had his reasons, and junior guard Rod Pearson hit an 18-footer as time expired, allowing the Eagles to escape with an important 83-81 road win over the Cardinal of the Pac-10.

"We've lost so many games where teams have hit 3's to tie (or win) the game and we decided to foul early, and it almost backfired on us, but we were able to hit a great shot at the end," Sutton said.

One of the most vivid reminders is that heartbreaking 65-64 loss to Creighton in the 2008 Bracketbusters game at the Mabee Center. The Bluejays trailed by two when Booker Woodfox hit a 3-pointer with 28 seconds left.

This time, ORU led 79-77 on Dominique Morrison's jumper with 19 seconds left and 81-78 after Michael Craion's two foul shots with 9.4 seconds left.

Rather than allow Stanford to take a potential tying 3-pointer, Pearson fouled Stanford's Jarrett Mann on instructions from the bench with 6.9 seconds left.

Mann made the first of two foul shots and rebounded the second shot when it bounded straight back to him at the foul line. Stanford called timeout and tied the game when Landry Fields took Mann's inbounds pass to score a layin with 4.7 seconds left.

But Pearson, the transfer junior point guard, did exactly what he was signed to do, taking an ORU inbounds pass and rocketing the ball to the other end before triggering his game-winner from the right side.

Pearson apparently got as close as he did because the Cardinal was reluctant to cut him off or try anything that might draw a foul call from the officiating crew, and put Pearson at the line with two shots to win the game.

-- Mike Brown


Previous Blog Entries:
ORU defenders face tough test in opener at Wake Forest
A few more facts and figures from ORU's exhibition win
ORU fans see Golden Eagles going up and down for the first time
Guitar autographed by Garth Brooks to be auctioned at ORU basketball event
Golden Eagles hit the floor at 5 sharp

Main Menu