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Western Illinois University Athletics

Jeremiah Usiosefe FP
WIU Visual Productions Center
Jeremiah Usiosefe
63
Winner Western Illinois WIU 8-15 (5-7)
60
Oral Roberts ORU 7-19 (3-9)
Winner
Western Illinois WIU
8-15 (5-7)
63
Final
60
Oral Roberts ORU
7-19 (3-9)
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Western Illinois WIU 29 34 63
Oral Roberts ORU 28 32 60

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | WIU Athletic Communications

Men's Basketball Wins at Oral Roberts Wednesday Night

Garret Covington finished with a game-high 20 points, while Jeremiah Usiosefe recorded his first career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

TULSA, Okla. – Western Illinois defeated the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles to complete the season sweep, 63-60, in Tulsa Wednesday evening (Feb. 8).
 
The Leathernecks improved to 5-7 in Summit League play and 8-15 overall, while ORU falls to 7-19 overall and 3-9 in league play.
 
"They're a tough ball club and it's a tough league. We knew they were going to compete hard and make a run, and hats off to our guys. I thought they did a tremendous job with the defensive focus and awareness, and that's something that we've been talking about all year," said head coach Billy Wright. "When we defend, when we rebound, when we take care of the ball, although we had too many turnovers tonight, but at the end of the day, and I'm really proud of their effort and commitment at both ends of the floor."
 
Western held the advantage on the scoreboard for nearly the entire first half. The Leathernecks grabbed the lead early and built their advantage up to as many as 11 points, 25-14, with just over seven minutes to play in the opening half.
 
A 14-2 Golden Eagle run would give them their first lead of the game with only 40 seconds to play in the first, but WIU's Jordan Hughes connected on a layup before time expired in the first half and gave Western a 29-28 lead at the break.
 
Oral Roberts scored the first basket of the second half and regained the lead, but Western answered with a 15-2 run and jumped out to a 44-32 lead with just over 12 minutes left in regulation.
 
The Golden Eagles would use the remainder of the game to cut their deficit to one point, 61-60, with less than 10 seconds to play. ORU then fouled Jeremiah Usiosefe who made both of his free throws to put the Leathernecks up by three. Oral Roberts then threw up and missed its desperation shot as time expired to seal Western Illinois' league win.
 
"If you're up one or you're up 13, as long as you keep getting stops and they don't score, mathematically you should win. So that was the message, take care of the ball, get a good shot each and every time down the floor, which I thought we did down the stretch. We knew that they would make a run, but I'm just proud of our effort from our guys. When it was time to get a defensive stop, we got it," concluded Wright.
 
Garret Covington scored a game-high 20 points and C.J. Duff finished with 12 points. Both Covington and Duff led the Leathernecks with three assists each.
 
Recording the first double-double of his career was Jeremiah Usiosefe who scored 10 points and pulled down 10 rebounds. He also led WIU with two steals.
 
Mike Miklusak tallied nine points and nine rebounds, and Brandon Gilbeck finished with eight points and seven rebounds.
 
WIU lost the assist/turnover battle, but shot 43.6 percent from the floor compared to ORU's 35.4 shooting percentage. Western finished with 11 assists and 16 turnovers, while Oral Roberts tallied 13 assists and 11 turnovers.
 
ORU had three players score a team-best 14 points in Albert Owens, Aaron Anderson and Kris Martin.
 
Western Illinois has the rest of the week off before playing host to Denver on Tuesday, Feb. 14, at 7 p.m. inside Western Hall. The contest is slated to air live on ESPN3.

   
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