March 17, 2005

Recap |  Box Score |  Quotes

• The Maryland basketball team ripped off 17 straight points late in the first half to rally from a 13-point deficit and held off Oral Roberts 85-72 Wednesday night at Comcast Center to advance to the second round of the National Invitation Tournament. The Terrapins improve their all-time NIT mark to 8-3 in five appearances and will play either Southwest Missouri State or Davidson in the second round. ORU drops to 2-7 overall in seven NIT appearances. Maryland improves its record to 17-12, while the Golden Eagles end the year with a 25-8 mark. It was the first meeting between the teams.

• Travis Garrison and Mike Jones paced the Terrapins with 18 points apiece. Garrison added 11 rebounds to record his third career double-double (second this season), and added four blocks. Jones' scoring total was his second-highest output of the season.

• Will Bowers recorded a career-high 14 points, shooting 5-of-9 from the field and 4-of-5 from the free-throw line in just 17 minutes. It was his second straight double-digit performance, improving on his 10-point output against Clemson in the ACC Tournament. Sterling Ledbetter, who earned his first career start, also broke the double-digit barrier with 10 points, which ties a career-high, and added personal bests with nine rebounds, five dimes and 30 minutes of action. He was perfect on eight free-throw attempts.

• Ekene Ibekwe finished with eight points, eight rebounds and four rejections, part of a Maryland block party that saw the Terps finish with a season-high 15 denials. Nik Caner-Medley contributed eight rebounds and five assists. The Terps pulled down 57 rebounds against the undersized Golden Eagles, their second-best total of the season (61 vs. Liberty, 12/28/04).

• Oral Roberts was led by Caleb Green's 23 points and 16 rebounds, his 16th double-double performance of the season. Ken Tutt had 18 points, but was successful on only 5-of-27 field goal attempts.

• Maryland trotted out its 10th different starting lineup of the season, sending Bowers, Garrison, Caner-Medley, Jones and Ledbetter out for the opening tip.

• Bowers capitalized on several early opportunities on the offensive end, delivering a facial dunk to open the scoring and sinking an eight-foot jumper several possessions later. The sophomore center was also a force on the defensive glass, hauling down one loose ball, turning and firing an outlet pass in one motion on one sequence. He later emphatically rejected a field-goal attempt by Caleb Green.

• After Maryland jumped out to a 7-3 lead, the Golden Eagles went on a 14-2 run to capture an eight-point lead with 11:38 remaining in the half. Maryland was held without a field goal for nearly seven minutes during the ORU run, until Gist broke the drought with a lay-in to close the margin to 17-11.

• After ORU extended its lead to 26-15 with 7:38 left, Maryland Head Coach Gary Williams was assessed a technical foul that gave Tutt a pair of free throws, but also lit a fire under the Terrapins, who reeled off 17 straight points to retake the lead. Jones and Mike Grinnon drilled back-to-back triples, Garrison reeled in a laser pass from Ibekwe for a lay-in, and Garrison completed the comeback with a putback lay-in to forge a 28-28 tie. Ledbetter and Garrison each sunk a pair from the charity stripe to give Maryland the lead as Oral Roberts missed 10 straight field goal attempts, while being held scoreless for a 5:10 stretch.

• Maryland upped its lead to 39-32 at the break, closing the half on a 24-4 burst. Garrison had 10 points to lead the Terps in the scoring column, and five of his eight rebounds came on the offensive glass. He also had two blocks as part of a strong first-half performance. Jones was also active on both ends, scoring six points and registering a pair of blocks and steals. Maryland had 10 rejections in the first-half, one shy of the team's game high this season.

• Bowers again was the first on the scoreboard in the second half, corralling a loose ball and connecting on a lay-in while being fouled to give Maryland a 41-32 lead. Bowers' next basket eclipsed his previous career-high of 10 points (vs. Clemson, 3/10/05) and gave Maryland a 43-34 cushion one minute into the second half.

• The Golden Eagles would slowly chip away at Maryland's lead, drawing to within two points on multiple occasions midway through the second half, before Jones scored eight straight points for the Terps to help reestablish a 71-62 advantage. A soft Garrison jumper gave Maryland a 78-66 lead with 3:50 remaining and ORU never drew closer than 10 points the rest of the way.