Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
Oral Roberts
Late 3-pointers lift Wildcats past Oral Roberts
12/2/2014 5:20:00 AM | Men's Basketball
OGDEN – Weber State trailed by five points with 24 seconds left but two late 3-pointers lifted the Wildcats to a wild 62-61 win over Oral Roberts Monday night at the Dee Events Center.
The Golden Eagles led a 61-55 lead with 24 seconds remaining when Richaud Gittens knocked down a 3-pointer with 15 seconds to cut the lead to two. After two missed ORU free throws, Jeremy Senglin nailed the game-winning 3-pointer with three seconds left to give the Wildcats the win.
“I'm really proud of our team on how they kept fighting and found a way to win,” said WSU head coach Randy Rahe. “Our guys came closer together and it wasn't pretty but they did what they needed to do to win.”
Both teams struggled shooting in the first half as the Wildcats shot just 36 percent and Oral Roberts shot 29 percent. WSU did knock down five 3-poitners in the first half including a 40-foot shot at the buzzer by Richaud Gittens to tie the game at 24 at the break.
In the second half Oral Roberts went on a 9-0 run to take its largest lead at eight points at 41-33 with 13:26 left. ORU led by eight again at 55-47 with 5:29 left when the Wildcats went on a 6-0 run to cut the lead to one at 55-54. But the Golden Eagles rattled off a 6-2 run to take the six point lead in the final seconds.
For the game ORU shot 42 percent while the Wildcats shot just 40 percent. Weber State made a season-high 10 3-pointers on 24 attempts. WSU also shot 70 percent from the free throw line and had a season-low nine turnovers. WSU had just one turnover in the second half.
Gittens led Weber State with a career-high 16 points and knocked down a career-high four 3-pointers, to go along with four assists. Junior Chris Golden also had a career-high, finishing with 15 points. Senglin added nine points and Joel Bolomboy had seven points and a game-high 12 rebounds.
The win moves WSU to 3-3 on the season. The Wildcats will return to the road for their next game, playing at UT Arlington Saturday afternoon in Arlington, Texas. After that the 'Cats will return home to host in-state rival BYU on Dec. 13.
