ORU vs. Denver - game notebook

Stage set for Sioux Falls: Both the men’s and women’s fields are set for the Summit League tournament in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Both Oral Roberts teams head north as No. 3 seeds.

The ORU men will take on IUPUI in the quarterfinals on Sunday at 8:30 p.m. The ORU women will play North Dakota State at 2:30 p.m. on the same day.

With a win, the ORU men would play the winner of North Dakota State and Denver. The ORU women are on the side of the bracket as Western Illinois and IUPUI.

The championship game on the women’s side is at 1 p.m. on March 10. The men’s title game is the same say at 8 p.m.

Summit League tournament schedule

Men

Saturday

No. 1 South Dakota State vs. No. 8 Western Illinois, 6 p.m.

No. 2 North Dakota State vs. No. 7 Denver, 8:30 p.m.

Sunday

No. 4 IPFW vs. No. 5 South Dakota, 6 p.m.

No. 3 Oral Roberts vs. No. 6 IUPUI, 8:30 p.m.

Monday

South Dakota State-Western Illinois winner vs. North Dakota State-Denver winner, 6 p.m.

IPFW-South Dakota winner vs. Oral Roberts-IUPUI winner, 8:30 p.m.

Tuesday

Championship game, 8 p.m.

Women

Saturday

No. 1 South Dakota vs. No. 8 IPFW, noon

No. 2 South Dakota State vs. No. 7 Denver, 2:30 p.m.

Sunday

No. 4 Western Illinois vs. No. 5 IUPUI, noon

No. 3 Oral Roberts vs. North Dakota State, 2:30 p.m.

Monday

South Dakota-IPFW winner vs. Western Illinois-IUPUI winner , noon

South Dakota State-Denver winner vs. Oral Roberts-North Dakota State winner, 2:30 p.m.

Tuesday

Championship game, 1 p.m.

Senior farewell: It was the final home game for ORU’s Denell Henderson and Adrion Webber on Saturday night in front of 3,720 fans. Henderson finished with 13 points and three rebounds in ORU’s 60-57 victory. Webber logged five points and three rebounds.

Griffin throws down: Denver may have lost the game, but it came up with the best – and only – dunk of the night. In the first half, Denver’s Cam Griffin was presented with a wide open lane, which he gladly accepted and used to throw down a one-handed rim rocker.

Griffin led the Pioneers with 14 points.

Big board issue: One area of concern for ORU following the win over Denver was the rebounding department. The Pioneers are the country’s worst rebounding team, and they managed to out-rebound ORU 25-21.

Bobby Word led the Golden Eagles with six rebounds, and Obi Emegano had five.

Backboard bonanza: There was a brief delay early in the second half when part of the backboard padding came loose on the basket at Denver’s end. ORU’s Bobby Word attempted to corral a rebound, but the ball fell from his hands out of bounds. He threw the ball inbounds out of frustration, but in doing so he jarred free the padding.

All it took was a little packing tape and a ladder to come to a resolution. The delay only last a couple of minutes.