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Today’s shocker? Oral Roberts loses in Summit semis

spt-120305-oralroberts

Mike Miller

Oral Roberts became the latest top seed in a conference tournament to fall short of the title game.

A day after Iona and Middle Tennessee State suffered stunning losses, the Golden Eagles lost 54-53 to Western Illinois in the Summit League semifinals Monday night. Perhaps most surprising is how Oral Roberts lost.Today’s shocker? Oral Roberts loses in Summit semis

It led 49-41 with 8:03 remaining, but couldn’t find any offense. When Dominique Morrison hit two free throws with 4:03 left to stake Oral Roberts to a 5-point lead, it didn’t score the rest of the game. That’s saying a lot for a team that was 17-1 in the league, won the regular-season crown by two games and had beaten Western Illinois twice this season.

More amazing? The Golden Eagles (27-6) had lost just once since Dec. 16, a span of 20 wins in 21 games.

Now Western Illinois (18-13) will play in its first conference tournament title game in 15 years.

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