Young Leads Cougars Over Golden Eagles

PROVO -- The BYU men's basketball team sought and got its second win of the BYU Holiday Classic against Oral Roberts Friday at the Marriott Center as the Cougars clipped the Golden Eagles wings, 72-62. Friday's action also saw Seton Hall emerge victorious with an 85-81 win over Liberty

BYU improves to 9-4 on the season with the win and Oral Roberts falls to 6-7 with the loss. Seton Hall is now 8-3, while Liberty is 6-6. Saturday's games pit Oral Roberts against Liberty at 5 p.m. MT and Seton Hall vs. BYU at 7:30 p.m. MT to close out the tournament in the Marriott Center.

"Every game takes on its own feel," BYU head coach Dave Rose said. "It was that way from the start tonight."

The Cougars struggled in the first two minutes of the game as they went down 6-0, missing their first three shots and turning the ball over twice. Keena Young broke BYU's opening drought with a tough shot in the lane followed by a Trent Plaisted put-back to take the score to 6-4 before the Golden Eagles went on a run of their own to go up 12-4.

Oral Roberts' Caleb Green led the way for the Golden Eagles in the opening minutes of the game, scoring eight points in seven minutes. Momentum shifted the Cougars' way when Young hit a turn-around 15-footer over Green to pull the blue and white within six. The following two possessions for the Cougars spelled dunks for Plaisted and Lee Cummard, respectively, to pull within two. Fernando Malaman completed the Cougar comeback with a triple from the top of the arc to give BYU its first lead of the game at 17-16.

BYU's run went to 11-0 with a Mike Rose jumper to give the Cougars a three-point lead at 19-16 with just over 11 minutes to go in the game. After a circus-esque melee at center court with both teams scrambling for the ball, BYU's Jimmy Balderson came away with the leather and was fouled hitting a lay-up. He hit his free throw, and the Cougar run went to 14-0 with the score at 22-16.

Oral Roberts' Ken Tutt scooped a lay-up at the front of the rim to end the scoreless drought and try to stop the bleeding. Plaisted kept the wound fresh, though, answering with a right-handed scoop of his own at the opposite end of the floor.

With 7:30 to go in the first half Tutt pulled up from behind the arc to pull the Golden Eagles within four, and Green hit another high-percentage shot to pull them within one. BYU's Austin Ainge hit a three of his own to go up 27-23. At 27-25, Tutt continued the shootout and dropped another triple from the wing to give his team the lead again at 28-27.

A three by ORU's Adam Liberty gave the Golden Eagles another one-point lead at 33-32 with just over a minute to go in the half, but BYU's Mike Rose wouldn't be left out of the action as he responded with a three of his own from the corner. Cummard scored a fast-break lay-up with eight seconds to go, and the Cougars took a 37-33 lead into the locker room at the break.

Malaman blocked one of Green's shots on the next possession, and Green fouled him as he pulled away; Malaman hit both free throws to take a 29-28 lead. Ainge then stole the ball from Green and dished it to Jimmy Balderson, taking the Cougars to a 31-28 lead with four minutes to go in the first half, a lead which they would extend to 37-33 at the break.

Tutt came out of the break on a mission, scoring six points by hitting a big shot from down town, getting a steal and completing another three-point play from the free throw line to put ORU up two in the first minute of the second half. Green followed with a tip-in. The 8-0 Golden Eagle run was stopped by a Keena Young fade-away, but the Cougars were still down two at 41-39.

Shooting woes haunted the Cougars at the start of the second half just as they did at the start of the first, going 1-8 in the first five minutes of the second half, and the Golden Eagles took an eight-point lead at 47-39, matching their biggest lead of the first half.

After ORU went up 10 at 49-39, the Cougars decided they had had enough and Cummard hit a runner, Rose hit another three and Young dropped one from the middle of the lane to pull the Cougars within three at 49-46. Tutt did not let BYU's scoring drive last long as he pulled up from two feet behind the arc and knocked down his fourth three of the game.

With just under 12 minutes to go in the game, Cummard fed a bounce pass to Young in the lane through three defenders, and Young took the ball hard to the rim to hit the bucket and draw the foul. He drained it, and BYU's deficit was reduced to three, 52-49. Following that impressive performance, Young tipped in one of his own shots and brought the Cougars within one and the crowd went wild. Young then became the hero of an entire Marriott Center crowd as he hit another lay-up, gave his team the lead again and took a charge at the other end of the floor.

Balderson stole the ball on the next Golden Eagle possession and hit two free throws after being stopped in the lane to put the Cougars on top by three, 55-52. After a quiet start to the second half, Green got to the hole and brought ORU within one before Plaisted rocked his second dunk of the night to the cheers of the mob.

With just over six minutes left in the game, Tutt scored his 22nd point of the game on a free throw and tied the game at 57. Plaisted answered with a lay-up, and BYU went up by two again. On the ensuing possession, as Green was battling for possession underneath his own basket, he was called for his fifth foul. He left the game with 21 points and 13 rebounds. ORU's Marchello Vealy followed Green off the court with his fifth foul with just under four minutes to go.

As he left the court Vealy was charged with a technical foul, and Young hit two of the four free throws to push BYU's lead to four at 61-57. Cummard hit his only three-pointer of the night from the corner, and the Cougars went up seven. After ORU's Liberty responded with a triple of his own, Cummard took the rock to the rim and hit a lay-up. Tutt then hit two more free throws to pull within four. Young got an offensive board at the other end and put it away to go up 68-62 with two minutes to go. Balderson followed with a fast-break lay-up and Cummard followed him with a steal and dunk of his own. With a 10-point deficit entering the final minute of the game, ORU's fate was sealed.

"To win a game like that was great," Rose said. "We played hard, and we competed well. I'm proud of our guys... Sometimes when you win certain games, you can take a step forward. I hope this was one of those games."

Young led the Cougars with 21 points and sixteen rebounds, recording his fourth double-double of the season. Plaisted also recorded a double-double with 12 and 11, respectively. Cummard was only one rebound away from one of his own with 13 and nine, respectively. Oral Roberts' Tutt led all scorers with 24.

Pirates Put Out Flames In Marriott Center

PROVO -- The 8-3 Seton Hall Pirates wore their home whites for the first time in the 2006 BYU Holiday Classic in an 85-81 victory against the 6-6 Liberty Flames Friday at the Marriott Center as the Pirates played their second close game in as many nights.

"I like that we won a game in the 80's," said Seton Hall head coach Bobby Gonzalez. "We needed to win a high-scoring game. We needed to close and we came through."

Seton Hall came out swinging with a full-court-defense in response to its two-point loss to Oral Roberts in Thursday's opening match of the Holiday Classic, a game in which the Pirates found themselves down by 12 early, leading by eight in the second half and tied at 74 with three seconds left before Oral Roberts hit two free throws to push the Pirates off the plank.

However, Liberty was not about to go down easily as it jumped out to and early 10-7 lead and allowed only one Seton Hall field goal in the first five minutes of the game. Five of the Pirates' first seven points came from a perfect 5-for-5 from the free-throw line.

In the first nine minutes of the game, with a 13-11 score in Liberty's favor, the Flames were shooting 62.5 percent from the field and had held the Pirates to just 25 percent. Free throws and steals kept Seton Hall in the game despite the shooting woes as the Pirates took a 16-13 lead with 10:36 to go after hitting two more from the line and a fast break lay-up on a Jamar-Nutter steal.

After starting the game 3-for-12 from the field and a perfect 7-for-7 from the line, the Pirates went five for the next 10 and added to the team's nine steals and 14 points off of turnovers for the game to take a 25-18 lead.

Seton Hall took its largest lead of the half into the locker room at the break at 42-31. By halftime the surging Pirates had improved their field-goal percentage to 39 percent and had racked up 12 steals. The Flames' field-goal percentage had dropped to 53 percent, and they had accumulated 14 turnovers.

Seton Hall extended the largest lead of the game to 46-31 in the first minute of the second half with an 18-foot jumper from Nutter and two free throws from Paul Gause. Liberty's Alex McLean answered with a tough shot inside, but Seton Hall's Stan Gaines hit two more free throws on the other end hoping to stifle any hope of reversing the momentum and cut the lead back to 15. The largest lead of the game for either team came with 18 minutes to go in the game at 50-33 for Seton Hall.

The momentum was reversed, though, as the Flames lowered their deficit to eight with 16 minutes to go in the game with a deep three from Anthony Smith in the corner. The lead went to six at 50-44 with a B.J. Jenkins steal and transition lay-up. Seton Hall head coach Bobby Gonzalez called time-out and told his team that the game was far from over before his team turned the ball over on the ensuing possession Liberty's McLean hit another lay-up inside to take the score to 50-46.

With a 56-53 lead and 11 minutes to go in the game, the Pirates turned the ball over and gave the Flames an opportunity to pull within one or tie the game. Seton Hall responded by forcing a jump ball to get the ball back only to air ball a wide open three and give the Flames another shot. Both teams traded the next five possessions without scoring before Seton Hall's Gause was fouled on a running one-hander from the base line, made his free throw to complete the three-point play and pushed the lead back to six at 59-53.

With seven minutes to go, the Flames' Larry Blair hit a turn-around one-hander to tie the game at 65 for the first tie of the game. A dunk by Seton Hall's Brian Laing gave his team the lead again and hit two free throws on the next possession, and the Pirates took a 69-65 lead. Blair proved he truly is a Flame on fire, hitting a turn-around, 20-foot jumper from the baseline as he fell to the ground to bring the game back to within two.

The game was tied four more times after that, at 71,75, 77 and 79, but Liberty could never take the lead back. Laing was the Pirate that doused the Liberty's flame as he hit a tough shot in the lane, drew a foul and knocked down the free throw to take an 82-79 lead with 37.7 seconds to go in the contest. Gause extinguished the fire with a steal on Liberty's next possession and hit one of two free throws to create a two-possession game at 83-79 with 28.2 seconds to go.

Another Laing lay-up in transition took the game to 85-79, and Liberty could only hit one more shot before the final buzzer, losing the heart-breaker, 85-81.

In the end, Seton Hall forced a total of 20 turnovers and only gave up 10. Laing was the leading scorer of the game with 23 points and 11 rebounds, pacing four Pirates in double figures for the game. Liberty's leading scorer was Blair with 22. The Flames also had four players in double figures.

Saturday will be the last day of the 2006 BYU Holiday Classic featuring Liberty against Oral Roberts at 5 p.m. in the Marriott Center and BYU against Seton Hall at 7:30 p.m.

POSTGAME NOTES AND QUOTES LINKS (Box scores below)

Seton Hall vs. Liberty Postgame Notes and Quotes.

BYU vs. Oral Roberts Postgame Notes and Quotes.

Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
Oral Roberts vs BYU Cougars
12/29/06 7:35 p.m. at Marriott Center, Provo, Utah
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VISITORS: Oral Roberts 6-7
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
03 OGUNOYE, Yemi....... f  0-2    0-1    0-0    0  2  2   1   0  1  0  1  0  25
30 GREEN, Caleb........ f  7-15   0-0    7-10   3 10 13   5  21  4  4  0  3  31
33 KING, Shawn......... c  1-2    0-0    0-2    2  2  4   3   2  1  0  5  0  22
01 TUTT, Ken........... g  8-17   4-10   4-6    0  2  2   1  24  1  4  0  3  35
11 LIBERTY, Adam....... g  3-11   2-3    0-0    0  3  3   0   8  3  0  0  1  39
05 SANGO, Kelvin.......    2-4    0-1    0-0    0  2  2   1   4  1  1  0  0  23
10 VEALY, Marchello....    1-4    0-1    1-2    1  4  5   5   3  2  1  0  0  19
13 EHAMBE, Moses.......    0-1    0-1    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   1
32 HAYNES, Ben.........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   2
42 SPICER, Sylvester...    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   3   0  0  1  0  0   3
   TEAM................
   Totals..............   22-56   6-17  12-20   6 25 31  19  62 13 11  6  7 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-33 42.4%   2nd Half:  8-23 34.8%   Game: 39.3%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  3-8  37.5%   2nd Half:  3-9  33.3%   Game: 35.3%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  2-6  33.3%   2nd Half: 10-14 71.4%   Game: 60.0%    3
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOME TEAM: BYU Cougars 9-4
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
03 YOUNG, Keena........ f  9-13   0-0    3-6    7  9 16   1  21  0  3  1  0  33
44 PLAISTED, Trent..... c  5-13   0-0    2-4    5  6 11   3  12  0  1  2  0  32
01 BROADUS, Rashaun.... g  0-2    0-1    0-0    0  1  1   1   0  0  0  0  0  10
23 BALDERSON, Jimmy.... g  4-7    1-2    3-3    1  2  3   4  12  0  2  0  1  28
30 CUMMARD, Lee........ g  6-13   1-6    0-0    3  6  9   2  13  5  2  0  1  34
02 ROSE, Mike..........    3-9    2-7    0-0    2  1  3   2   8  0  0  0  0  15
13 AINGE, Austin.......    0-4    0-4    0-0    0  2  2   1   0  6  3  0  1  30
15 MALAMAN, Fernando...    1-7    1-3    2-2    0  3  3   2   5  0  0  0  1  14
20 BURGESS, Sam........    0-0    0-0    1-2    0  0  0   0   1  0  1  0  0   3
45 TAVERNARI, Jonathan.    0-1    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  1  0  0   1
   TEAM................                         1  3  4
   Totals..............   28-69   5-23  11-17  19 33 52  16  72 11 13  3  4 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-33 42.4%   2nd Half: 14-36 38.9%   Game: 40.6%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  3-10 30.0%   2nd Half:  2-13 15.4%   Game: 21.7%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  6-7  85.7%   2nd Half:  5-10 50.0%   Game: 64.7%    3
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Officials: Mike Giarratano, Duane Allen, Brian Shelley
Technical fouls: Oral Roberts-VEALY, Marchello. BYU Cougars-None.
Attendance: 9397
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
Oral Roberts..................   33   29  -   62
BYU Cougars...................   37   35  -   72
BYU Holiday Classic
Points in the paint-ORU 22,BY 38. Points off turnovers-ORU 19,BY 14.
2nd chance points-ORU 8,BY 17. Fast break points-ORU 6,BY 12.
Bench points-ORU 7,BY 14. Score tied-2 times. Lead changes-7 times.
Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
Liberty Flames vs Seton Hall
12/29/06 5:05 p.m. at Marriott Center, Provo, Utah
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VISITORS: Liberty Flames 6-6
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
11 HUBBARD, Damien..... f  0-1    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   1   0  0  4  2  0  21
21 McLEAN, Alex........ f  5-12   0-0    3-6    8  7 15   2  13  1  2  0  0  36
05 SMITH, Anthony...... g  7-10   2-2    1-2    2  2  4   4  17  3  0  0  1  32
22 BLAIR, Larry........ g  9-18   1-7    3-4    0  3  3   3  22  1  6  0  1  34
24 BREWINGTON, Dwight.. g  6-12   0-0    8-10   1  2  3   3  20  3  3  0  0  34
01 HOLLAND, Justin.....    0-1    0-1    0-0    0  1  1   1   0  1  1  0  0   6
02 JENKINS, B.J........    1-1    0-0    2-2    0  2  2   2   4  5  2  0  2  18
03 BAKER, Tyler........    1-1    1-1    0-0    0  2  2   2   3  0  2  0  0   7
23 JONES, Dominique....    0-1    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   0
33 PORTER, Rell........    1-1    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   2   2  0  0  0  0  12
   TEAM................                         2  5  7
   Totals..............   30-58   4-11  17-24  13 26 39  20  81 14 20  2  4 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-19 52.6%   2nd Half: 20-39 51.3%   Game: 51.7%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  2-5  40.0%   2nd Half:  2-6  33.3%   Game: 36.4%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  9-14 64.3%   2nd Half:  8-10 80.0%   Game: 70.8%    1
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HOME TEAM: Seton Hall 8-3
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
14 LAING, Brian........ f 10-18   0-1    3-5    3  8 11   1  23  2  3  1  3  38
23 GAINES, Stan........ f  1-4    0-0    6-6    1  2  3   4   8  0  0  3  0  29
02 NUTTER, Jamar....... g  3-14   0-6    6-7    1  4  5   3  12  4  2  0  4  33
15 HARVEY, Eugene...... g  7-15   0-0    4-4    2  1  3   1  18  5  1  0  0  35
35 DAVIS, Larry........ g  2-4    0-1    3-3    2  3  5   2   7  1  2  1  0  15
10 PRATT, Kashif.......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   1   0  0  0  0  0   3
20 MARSHALL, Carl......    1-1    1-1    0-0    0  0  0   1   3  1  1  0  2   7
21 MESSY, Mani.........    0-0    0-0    0-0    1  0  1   1   0  0  0  0  1   3
22 GAUSE, Paul.........    5-7    0-0    4-5    1  2  3   4  14  1  0  0  5  28
33 BILLMEIER, Grant....    0-1    0-0    0-4    0  1  1   2   0  0  1  0  0   9
   TEAM................                         2     2
   Totals..............   29-64   1-9   26-34  13 21 34  20  85 14 10  5 15 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-36 38.9%   2nd Half: 15-28 53.6%   Game: 45.3%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  1-5  20.0%   2nd Half:  0-4   0.0%   Game: 11.1%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 13-18 72.2%   2nd Half: 13-16 81.3%   Game: 76.5%    4
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Officials: Scott Thornley, Mike Reed, Mike Littlewood
Technical fouls: Liberty Flames-None. Seton Hall-None.
Attendance: 1291
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
Liberty Flames................   31   50  -   81
Seton Hall....................   42   43  -   85
BYU Holiday Classic
Points in the paint-LIB 38,SHU 46. Points off turnovers-LIB 16,SHU 21.
2nd chance points-LIB 14,SHU 12. Fast break points-LIB 10,SHU 16.
Bench points-LIB 9,SHU 17. Score tied-9 times. Lead changes-9 times.