The Basics
Score: Oral Roberts 60 – Denver 57
Records: ORU (17-13, 10-6 SL) – Denver (12-17, 6-10 SL)
Location: Mabee Center – Tulsa Okla.

TULSA, Okla. – A battle for the full 40-minutes, the Oral Roberts men's basketball team held on to beat Denver 60-57 Saturday night at the Mabee Center. The victory gave ORU a third place finish in the Summit League and sent seniors Adrion Webber and Denell Henderson out with a win in their final home game.

ORU finished the year with an 11-2 record at home, its second-best home record since the 2007-08 season. The Golden Eagles grabbed a 10-point lead with 12:33 to play, but it was as close as a two point game with 13 seconds to play.

After a career-high 34 points in a win over North Dakota State on Thursday, Obi Emegano followed it up with a game-high 25 points on an 8-14 shooting night on Saturday. Henderson also got to double-figures on his senior night with 13, while Aaron Young had 10 points.

Cam Griffin led the Pioneers with 14 points, while Marcus Byrd hit three triples en route to 13 points. Bryant Rucker also reached double figures off the bench with 12. Denver out-rebounded ORU 25-21.  

Quote of the Game
"Give Denver credit. That was a hot team coming in here. We knew this was going to be a battle and we knew we were going to get their best shot. I thought our guys really focused in, they communicated with each other and for the most part did another outstanding job of defending. This group has really come together. I'm really proud of how they regrouped and how they came together." – Coach Scott Sutton.

Turning Point
A three point game with less than a minute to go, Obi Emegano hit a twisting jumper with 0:37 to play to push it back to a two-possession game.

Individual Leaders
Oral Roberts:  Obi Emegano led all scorers with 25 points. Bobby Word had six rebounds to lead ORU and Aaron Young had a pair of assists.
Denver: Cam Griffin scored 14 points, including six from the free throw line. Brett Olson led the rebounding effort with five boards.

Inside the Box Score
- ORU shot 61 percent (11-18) in the second half and 52 percent (21-40) for the game. It is the second game in which ORU has shot better than 50 percent for the game after having been below that mark in the eight of the previous nine games.
- The 40 field goal attempts were the fewest in a game this season for ORU.
- Denver finished the game 18-41 (43.8 percent) from the field. It is the second game in a row in which ORU has held its opponent below the 50 percent mark.
- ORU out-scored Denver 28-20 in the paint.
- Both teams turned the ball over 13 times, but Denver grabbed a 19-12 edge in points off turnovers.

News & Notes
- With ORU's victory on Saturday, the Golden Eagles claimed a third place finish in the Summit League. ORU has finished third or better in 11 of the last 12 years.
- ORU now holds a 3-2 advantage in the all-time series with Denver. The two teams split the regular season series this year with each team winning on its home court.
- Young's 3-pointer with 12:24 to go in the first half gave ORU a 14-11 lead and kept ORU's streak of made 3-pointers alive, pushing it to 86 consecutive games.
- Neither team was able to lead by more than five points in the first half with ORU taking a 27-23 lead into the locker room.
- The Golden Eagles quickly added to that and led by as many as nine within the first four minutes of the second half after a 7-2 spurt that including two layups from Henderson and a 3-point play by Emegano to make it 34-25.
- Denver used an 8-2 run in the second half to get the lead back to four (44-40) with 8:33 to play.
- Emegano finished the game scoring seven of the last nine ORU points inside the final five minutes.

Up Next
ORU will travel to the 2015 Summit League Championship at the brand new Denny Sanford PREMIER Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. As the third seed, ORU will face IUPUI Sunday, March 8 at 8:30 p.m. on ESPN3.

For the latest information on ORU men's basketball, follow @ORUMBB on Twitter or go to www.ORUAthletics.com.

---www.ORUAthletics.com---