EDINBURG – Reggie Tate’s running jumper as time expired gave Oral Roberts an exciting 105-104, triple-overtime, win over the University of Texas-Pan American in men’s basketball action Monday night at the UTPA Fieldhouse.

Down by one, the Golden Eagles (2-1) inbounded the ball under their own goal with 11 seconds and Tate took the ball just over midcourt with under 10 seconds left.  Tate then drove towards the basket and let the ball go over UTPA’s Kwasinda Curtis as the horn sounded, hitting nothing but net.

The loss overshadowed an ironman-like performance from UTPA’s Brian Merriweather.  The junior All-American candidate scored 35 points, including seven three-point baskets in a school-record 55 minutes of play.  Merriweather was 10-of-25 from the field, 7-of-15 from behind the three-point arc and 8-of-8 from the free throw line.  Derrick Taylor led the way for Oral Roberts with 34 points.

The Broncs led by as many as 17 points in the first half and still led by 10 points with 10:15 left in the game before ORU made a run.  The Golden Eagles outscored the Broncs 14-3 over the next five minutes to take a one-point lead with 5:26 left.  UTPA retook the lead on a Merriweather three-pointer, but Derrick Taylor’s lay-up with 15 seconds left sent the game into overtime, tied at 84-84.

Matt Palmquist had a double-double with 14 points and a game-high 16 rebounds.  Four other Broncs scored in double figures, including Kyle Sanders (15), Kwasinda Curtis (12), Watara Banks (11) and John Braxton (10).  For ORU Leon Irving had 24 points and 14 rebounds, Eric Perry had 15 points and Nathan Binam had 11 points.

“If we have this kind of effort every night, if they do what they did tonight, they are going to earn the respect they want, plus more because we are going to get our share of wins,” said UTPA Head Coach Bob Hoffman.

The game marked just the third time in UTPA that the Broncs played a three-overtime game.  The last time a UTPA team played a three-overtime game was against Louisiana-Lafayette (then Southwestern Louisiana) in a 114-106 win during the 1977-78 season.  The only other three-overtime game in UTPA history was an 86-80 loss to McMurry during the 1958-59 season.

UT-Pan American (0-1) will return to action on Saturday, November 27th against Wright State at 7:30 p.m. in the UTPA Fieldhouse.  Oral Roberts will take on Virginia Military on Friday, November 26th in the United Airlines Tip-Off Tournament in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Oral Roberts vs. UT-Pan American Broncs
UTPA Fieldhouse
November 22, 1999

Oral Roberts (2-1)

No. Name                   FG  FGA  3FG 3FGA  FT  FTA  OF DE TOT  PF  TP  A   TO BLK S  MIN
03  Reggie Tate, f         8   13   3   3     0   0    1  3  4    4   19  0   1  0   2  50
21  Derrick Taylor, f      12  20   1   1     9   19   2  7  9    3   34  5   7  0   1  41
33  Leon Irving, c         10  17   0   0     4   8    4  10 14   4   24  2   7  0   1  46
25  Eric Perry, g          4   12   3   7     4   4    1  2  3    4   15  5   1  0   1  52
32  Nathan Binam, g        3   10   1   6     4   4    1  0  1    2   11  2   0  0   0  45
11  Micah Ratzlaff         0   0    0   0     0   0    0  0  0    1   0   0   0  0   0  3
14  Marquis Warrior        0   1    0   1     0   0    0  1  1    3   0   1   1  0   0  14
20  Da'Monn Sanders        1   1    0   0     0   3    2  4  6    1   2   0   0  0   1  12
22  Dave Sumrall           0   0    0   0     0   0    0  0  0    0   0   0   1  0   0  1
23  Gerald Burris          0   0    0   0     0   0    0  1  1    1   0   0   0  0   0  0
44  Kyan Brown             0   0    0   0     0   0    0  0  0    1   0   0   2  0   0  11
    Team                                               0  6  6                2            
    Totals                 38  75   8   18    21  38   11 34 45   23  105 15  22 0   6  275

Total FG% 1st Half: 16-29  .552   2nd Half: 22-46   .478   Game: .507     Deadball
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-6    .500   2nd Half: 5-12    .417   Game: .444     Rebounds
F Throw% 1st Half:  6-11   .545   2nd Half: 15-27   .556   Game: .556     9

UT-Pan American Broncs (0-1)

No. Name                   FG  FGA  3FG 3FGA  FT  FTA  OF DE TOT  PF  TP  A   TO BLK S  MIN
11  John Braxton, f        3   9    2   2     2   3    2  4  6    5   10  1   2  0   1  38
21  Kyle Sanders, f        6   12   0   0     3   4    2  2  4    5   15  0   3  0   1  34
33  Matt Palmquist, c      7   14   0   0     0   0    8  8  16   4   14  0   3  0   4  32
10  Carlos Haywood, g      2   5    0   0     0   0    0  5  5    4   4   2   4  0   0  37
23  Brian Merriweather, g  10  25   7   15    8   8    0  2  2    1   35  3   8  0   2  55
00  Reggie Kuzet           0   0    0   0     0   0    0  0  0    0   0   0   0  0   0  2
05  Kwasinda Curtis        2   6    1   2     7   10   0  3  3    1   12  2   0  0   1  27
12  Gary Booker            1   3    0   1     1   2    1  2  3    4   3   0   1  0   0  21
15  Watara Banks           1   4    0   0     9   9    1  3  4    5   11  3   5  0   1  28
    Team                                               0  5  5                             
    Totals                 32  78   10  20    30  36   14 34 48   29  104 11  26 0   10 275

Total FG% 1st Half: 17-32  .531   2nd Half: 15-46   .326   Game: .410     Deadball
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 5-8    .625   2nd Half: 5-12    .417   Game: .500     Rebounds
F Throw% 1st Half:  12-12 1.000   2nd Half: 18-24   .750   Game: .833     4

Officials: Pete Ranucci, Jimmie Flores, Jeff Hodges

Technical Fouls: Oral Roberts (Bench)
Attendance: 2,743

Score by Periods        1st   2nd   OT   OT   OT  Final
Oral Roberts            41    43    8    4    9   105
UTPA                    51    33    8    4    8   104