TULSA—Another dominant defensive performance and a balanced offensive attack led Oral Roberts University to an 80-51 Summit League win over South Dakota State, Saturday at Mabee Center.

The Golden Eagles (6-3, 2-0 Summit) limited SDSU (3-5, 0-2) to 33.9 percent shooting -- a season-low for an ORU opponent – and forced 22 Jackrabbit turnovers. Shawn King (Bequia, St. Vincent) led four Golden Eagles in double-figures with 17 points, adding seven rebounds and four blocked shots.

For the second consecutive game, senior forward Yemi Ogunoye (Cedar Hill, Texas) was the pivotal player in ORU's defensive effort.

Two nights after holding North Dakota State's Ben Woodside 20 points below his league-leading scoring average, Ogunoye limited SDSU leading scorer Kai Williams to four points on 1-of-5 shooting. Williams carried a 16.9-scoring average into the game, and scored 28 in his last outing Thursday at Centenary.

A slow-paced game at the outset, things picked up late in the first half. After SDSU's Clint Sargent nailed a three-pointer to trim ORU's lead to 27-20 with 3:34 remaining before halftime, the Golden Eagles went on a 9-0 run to close the half.

King hit a layup in the paint, then grabbed an offensive rebound and scored on ORU's next possession for a 31-20 edge with 2:37 before the break. A steal and layup by Adam Liberty (Oklahoma City, Okla.) with 1:08 to go made it 33-20 and, after a basket by Sargent, Robert Jarvis (Humble, Texas) drained a three-point to give ORU a 36-22 halftime lead.

Moses Ehambe (Arlington, Texas) helped jumpstart ORU in the second half, scoring eight points during a 17-6 run which gave ORU a 53-28 advantage. SDSU responded with a 9-0 run to cut the lead to 53-37.

But the Jackrabbits never got any closer as the lead swelled to as many as 31 points when Andre Hardy (San Diego, Calif.) made a pair of free throws for a 76-45 lead with 2:54 left.

Ehambe finished the game with 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting, including 3-of-4 on three-pointers. Marcus Lewis (Long Beach, Calif.) scored 11 points, grabbed four rebounds and dished three assists, while Liberty chipped in 10 points and three assists. Jarvis was held under 10 points for the first time all season, scoring nine points and grabbing four rebounds.

The Golden Eagles shot 52.7 percent from the field, including a sizzling 9-of-13 (69.2 percent) from 3-point range. Those numbers offset a tough night at the free throw line which saw ORU convert just 13-of-27 attempts from the stripe.

South Dakota State edged ORU in rebounds, 37-36. Anthony Cordova led SDSU with 14 points.

The Golden Eagles take a 10-day break for final exams and return to the court when they visit No. 5 Texas, 5:30 p.m., Tuesday, December 18.

--ORU--