TULSA—
Dominique Morrison (Kansas City, Mo.) led all
scorers with 18 points in leading Oral Roberts University to an
89-54 Summit League victory over UMKC, Thursday at Mabee Center.
The victory moved the Golden Eagles into a tie with North Dakota
State atop the Summit League standings.
The win was ORU's sixth straight and nation-leading 31st in a row
at home against conference opponents. The Golden Eagles improved to
9-11 overall and 7-1 in Summit Play, while UMKC dropped to 6-15 and
2-6.
A tight game in the early going, ORU broke it open mid-way through
the first half. Trailing 17-16 with 13:47 before halftime, the
Golden Eagles went on a 23-2 run over the next 10:40. Andre
Hardy (San Diego, Calif.) scored the final six points in the
run, the last two coming on free throws with 3:07 to go for a 39-19
lead.
UMKC tried to hang in, closing the half with a 9-2 flourish,
trimming ORU's lead to 41-28 at halftime.
But ORU never let the Kangaroos back in the game in the second
half. The Golden Eagles led by 20 points when a Hardy layup made it
53-33 with 12:21 to play. The lead reached 25 for the first time
when
Ken Holdman (Tulsa, Okla.) made the first of two
free throws to put ORU up 75-50 with 4:07 left.
The Golden Eagles cleared the bench with just under three minutes
remaining, and
Renardo Rhone (Oklahoma City, Okla.) scored a
bucket to make it 82-52 with 1:55 remaining.
Morrison was 6-of-9 from the field against his hometown team,
including 1-of-3 from long range. He was also 5-of-6 from the line
and grabbed five rebounds.
Hardy was 4-of-6 from the floor and perfect on six attempts from
the free throw line. He also added six rebounds.
Marcus Lewis (Long Beach, Calif.) chipped in with
14 points, four assists and three rebounds, while Kevin
Ford (Portland, Ore.) added 11 points and four assists.
Bakari Jones led UMKC with 13 points.
ORU blistered the nets, shooting 55.6 percent from the field. ORU's
defense continued its fine recent play, limiting UMKC to 36.5
percent shooting, and forcing 20 turnovers.
The Golden Eagles were 25-of-31 from the line (81 percent),
compared to 10-of-19 for the Kangaroos.
ORU continues Summit League play when they host Southern Utah on
hall of Fame night, 7:05 p.m., Saturday at Mabee Center.
--ORU--
