TULSA—Five players scored in double figures and Oral Roberts
University's defense limited Centenary to 29 percent shooting in an
82-59 Summit League win, Friday at Mabee Center.
In improving to 4-11 overall and 2-1 in League play, the Golden
Eagles have won 28 consecutive home games against conference
opponents.
ORU led for almost the entire 40 minutes, trailing only after the
game's first basket less than a minute in. A 13-1 run early in the
game gave ORU a 13-3 lead, and the Golden Eagles never led by fewer
than seven points the rest of night.
After Centenary (2-13, 0-3) trimmed ORU's lead to 28-17 on a Chase
Adams jumper with 4:13 left before halftime the Golden Eagles
closed the half with an 11-0 run, highlighted by fast-break dunks
from
Kelvin
Sango (Tulsa, Okla.) and
Kevin
Ford (Portland, Ore.). ORU led 39-17 at halftime.
The Gents never really challenged ORU in the second half. Centenary
got as close as 13 points twice, the last time when a pair of Max
Nakwaasah free throws made it 55-42 with 9:45 to play. But ORU used
a 14-4 run over the next five minutes, taking a 69-46 lead on a
Ford layup with 4:22 left.
Ford led ORU's balanced attack, scoring 14 points and grabbing a
season-high 12 rebounds for his second straight double-double.
Fellow low-post partner
Marcus
Lewis (Long Beach, Calif.) added 11 points and 10 boards,
helping ORU to a 48-36 rebounding advantage.
Ken
Holdman (Tulsa, Okla.),
Robert
Jarvis (Humble, Texas) and
Dominique
Morrison (Kansas City, Mo.) each chipped in with 10 points.
Holdman added a season-high three steals.
Centenary's Nick Stallings led all scorers with 16 points, but was
just 5-of-13 from the field. Lance Hill scored 12, and Chase Adams
added 11 points with eight rebounds.
The Golden Eagles shot 49.2 percent for the game, including 61.5
percent in the second half. ORU was just 4-of-18 from 3-point
range, and made just 20-of-34 from the free throw line.
Centenary made 18-of-63 shots from the field overall, but was
9-of-22 from beyond the arc.
The Golden Eagles return to action when they host Summit League foe
IPFW, 5:05 p.m., Thursday at Mabee Center.
--ORU--
