COLUMBIA, Mo.—Robert Jarvis (Humble, Texas) tied a career-high with 34 points, but Oral Roberts University's late rally fell short as Missouri downed the Golden Eagles 92-83, Sunday at Mizzou Arena.

Jarvis was 11-of-18 from the field overall, 6-of-11 from three-point range, and made all six of his free throws. He almost single-handedly rallied ORU (1-4) from a deficit which reached as many as 19 points in the second half. But Missouri's inside tandem of DeMarre Carroll and Leo Lyons, and a sub-par defensive performance were too much to overcome.

Jarvis helped ORU stay close in the first half, scoring 13 points. But it was the rest of the Golden Eagles that allowed ORU to hang with the Tigers prior to halftime.

Missouri built a double-digit lead mid-way through the half and extended the advantage to 38-23 on a Keith Ramsey layup with 5:14 left before the break. ORU answered with a 10-0 run which featured a layup by Andre Hardy (San Diego, Calif.), a trey by Jarvis, back-to-back layups by Ken Holdman (Tulsa, Okla.) and a free throw by Dominique Morrison (Kansas City, Mo.) as ORU trimmed the lead to 38-33 with 2:18 to go in the first half.

The Tigers eventually led 43-35 at halftime, but it probably should have been closer. After forcing a shot clock violation with 0.4 seconds left, Jarvis drained a half-court shot from the far sideline, but it was waved off by the officials after reviewing the television replay.

Down by eight at the break, the Golden Eagles found themselves down by 19 points just over five minutes into the half when Matt Lawrence capped a 14-5 run with a three-pointer as Missouri grabbed a 64-45 lead with 14:12 left.

But the young Golden Eagles didn't panic. With Missouri leading 70-54, ORU used a 7-0 run over the next 2:04 to pull within 70-61 on a pair of Jarvis free throws with 8:09 to play.

The lead stayed between eight and 10 points until ORU made one final push. Down 80-70, the Golden Eagles used five points from Jarvis and a three-pointer by Morrison to pull within 81-76 with 3:20 left. Back-to-back Missouri baskets made it 86-75 with 2:34 to play and ORU never got closer than nine points.

Jarvis played all 40 minutes and contributed three rebounds, three assists and zero turnovers to his game-high scoring honors. Morrison scored 17 points, and Hardy recorded his season's first double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds.

Carroll and Lyons combined for 42 points and 16 rebounds as the duo controlled the paint. Their efforts helped Mizzou to a 34-33 rebounding edge. Zaire Taylor added 11 points for the Tigers.

ORU shot 46.3 percent from the field, including 57.1 percent (8-14) from 3-point range. The Golden Eagles were also a season-best 78.1 percent (25-32) from the free throw line. Missouri shot 53.8 percent from the field, making 6-of-13 three-pointers.

The Golden Eagles handled Missouri's vaunted full-court pressure with aplomb, committing only 12 turnovers after Missouri forced an average of better than 20 in its first five games.

ORU returns to action when they open Summit League play at North Dakota State, 7:05 p.m., Thursday.

--ORU--