Box Score | Season Stats | 2019-20 Schedule
The Basics
Score: South Dakota 80 - Oral Roberts 94
Record: USD (19-9, 9-4 SL) – ORU (14-12, 7-6 SL)
Location: Tulsa, Okla. (Mabee Center)
TULSA, Okla. – By taking care of the basketball with brilliant ball security all night long, the Oral Roberts men's basketball team picked up a convincing, 94-80 victory over South Dakota Saturday night at the Mabee Center.
The Golden Eagles turned the ball over just three times and had all five starters score in double figures, while shooting a season-high 46 percent from distance to put a stop to the Coyotes eight-game win streak.
After USD got the opening bucket, ORU took control of the game scoring a 12-2 run over the next four minutes building an early double-digit advantage on the third-place Coyotes. Kevin Obanor and Max Abmas each scored five points during the stretch. USD trimmed the lead down to one, 12-11, scoring seven-straight points and went on to tie the game, 14-14.
The next nearly four minutes belonged to the Golden Eagles as the home side dominated play building an 11-point cushion behind a 14-3 push. An Emmanuel Nzekwesi fast-break layup capped the burst for a 28-17 advantage. The margin swelled as high as 18 after R.J. Fuqua recorded an old-fashioned 3-point play in the final minute and ORU went into the locker room comfortably in front, 50-33.
Abmas got the opening basket of the second half as the home side moved to its largest lead of the night at 19 points, but the Coyotes quietly chipped away at their deficit getting to 10, 62-52, at the 12:54 mark. USD continued to swing momentum in its favor closing the gap to five three minutes later forcing ORU into a timeout.
The Golden Eagles responded out of the quick break as Nzekwesi converted an and-one opportunity and Sam Kearns drilled a transition 3-pointer from the wing turning the advantage back into double digits, 71-60. That margin never dropped below 13 for the remainder of the contest as ORU was relentless on both ends of the court securing a critical Summit League win, 94-80.
Quote of the Game
"You just wonder if these guys can handle certain kinds of pressure, whether it be on the perimeter or on the interior. The best thing was our interior guys were able to handle pressure and for those guys, who don't normally handle the ball, it's a tribute to them for making the right reads." – Head Coach Paul Mills
Turning Point
With the Coyotes on an 8-0 run covering 2:46 of the middle stages in the second half, Coach Mills called a much-needed timeout to stop the rally. To the Golden Eagles credit, the team not only stopped the run, but completely flipped momentum back in their favor by scoring the next 10 points, while holding USD scoreless for three and a half minutes building a 75-60 lead.
Individual Leaders
Oral Roberts: Nzekwesi tallied his 30th career double-double leading the charge by scoring 23 points to go with a game-best 12 rebounds. The redshirt senior dominated the opening half going off for 15 points and nine rebounds.
South Dakota: Stanley Umude led all scorers with 24 points aided by 20 free throw attempts, of which he knocked down 14. Umude had nearly as many free throw tries (20) as the entire ORU squad (24) for the game by drawing 11 fouls against.
Inside the Box Score
- Nzekwesi put together his ninth double-double this season shooting 8-of-14 from the floor and adding seven made free throws. The Trophy Club, Texas, product was fouled 12 times during the night.
- Deondre Burns recorded the 10th performance this year of at least 20 points as the senior scored 21 points on a 50 percent shooting effort.
- Fuqua was an all-around driving force for the Golden Eagles registering 17 points, five rebounds, five assists and two steals. He was 6-of-7 at the free throw line and converted 3-of-5 from long range matching a season high for made 3-pointers.
- Abmas joined Fuqua with 17 points hitting 3-of-5 from behind the arc and connected on 7-of-12 attempts overall, while Obanor added 11 points in just 17 minutes on the court.
- The Golden Eagles got at least four assists from Fuqua (5), Burns (4) and Kearns (4) as the trio posted 13 assists and did not turn the ball over once.
News and Notes
- The three turnovers committed by the Golden Eagles is the fewest in a single game in the 2000's and marks the second-straight game with five or fewer. ORU did not turn the ball over once during the opening half, while forcing USD into eight, to get an 11-0 edge in points off turnovers at halftime. That margin finished at 18-1 for the night.
- ORU improved to 11-1 at home this season and 5-1 in home conference games as the team had all five starters reach double-figure scoring for the first time since Dec. 8, 2019 against Haskell.
- The Golden Eagles trailed for only 23 seconds in the contest, while holding a lead for more than 38 minutes Saturday.
Up Next
ORU hits the road for its only game next week heading to Denver, Colorado, to face the Pioneers Feb. 20 at 8 p.m. (CT).
For the latest information on ORU men's basketball, follow @ORUMBB on Twitter or Instagram, or go to www.ORUAthletics.com. Fans can also receive updates on the team by downloading the ORU Athletics Front Row App at ORUAthletics.com/frontrow or the ORU Golden Eagles Live App in iTunes or the Google Play Store. For tickets, visit mabeecenter.com or call 495-7ORU (7678).
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