Cowboys Survive Against ORU
Jordan King - November 7, 2019 10:21 am
Last night it was closer than some fans probably wanted, but the Oklahoma State basketball team ended up getting it done against the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles with a 5-point win at Gallagher-Iba Arena behind some clutch free throw shooting.
Maybe closer than some fans wanted, but coach Mike Boynton said he likes these kinds of games for his team.
“I’ll be perfectly honest, I want as many of those games as I can have between now and Dec. 31 before we start playing conference play,” Boynton said. “I get that people want to see us run away and win by 25 points. There is certainly things you can learn about those wins, but these situations that come up where our guys have to stay engaged the whole time are going to be good for us.”
When ORU went on a big run late, Isaac Likekele says the team drew from their experiences from last year and they used that to find a way to win.
“We were in those situations all last year,” Likekele said. “Last year we lost a lot of games due to one or two plays. The five guys that were in the game at the end were the same that were in the end last year. So you know we are just trying to find different ways to make those changes that actually gets us a result of winning and not losing.
“Last year I feel like all the mistakes and experience from us five, we just learned off us which allowed us to capitalize off this win tonight.”
Ice led the Pokes with 18 points, 9 boards and 5 assists. He was one of 5 Cowboys in double figures with Cam McGriff, Yor Anei, Lindy Waters and freshman Keylan Boone.
Anei also added 8 blocks and Boynton said his ability to protect the rim changes things for opponents trying to score.
“He was a force in there,” Boynton said. “He was able to change the complexion of the end of the game because of his aggressiveness and making them have to change their shots and kick it out more.”
McGriff scored all of his 10 points from the free-throw line, which Boynton said shows his maturity that he has gained during the past year.
Up next is UMKC at 2 on Saturday afternoon.
