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The Basics
Score: Oral Roberts 102 – Denver 61
Record: ORU (18-4, 9-0) – DU (12-11, 3-7)
Location: Tulsa, Oklahoma (Mabee Center)
 
TULSA, Okla. – The Oral Roberts men's basketball team crushed the Denver Pioneers, 102-61, Thursday evening at the Mabee Center to improve to 9-0 in league play.
 
In back-to-back seasons the Golden Eagles defeated a league opponent by 40-plus points at the Mabee Center. Thursday's 41 point win is the largest over a league foe since the 45 point home win over Omaha last season. For the third-straight game, Max Abmas scored 20-plus points with 25 points on the night. In the game, four Golden Eagles recorded double-digits and Connor Vanover earned his third double-double of the season with 20 points and 10 rebounds.
 
It was back and forth to begin the game to start off as ORU eventually led by as much as seven with 11 minutes left in the first. The Pioneers would rally with a 7-0 run two minutes later to tie the game. The Golden Eagles would go back up by five before Denver took a 6-0 run to take the lead by one. ORU would go back up by as much as five, but led at halftime 43-39. Abmas led ORU with 16 first half points followed by Vanover with 15. As a team, ORU shot 46.9 percent from the field.
 
Oral Roberts imposed its will in the second half, out-scoring Denver, 59-22. The Golden Eagles used a 23-0 run to take provide the separation and held the Pioneers to just nine points through the first 12 minutes of the second half. ORU began to clear the bench with eight minutes left in the game. Demari Williams entered the game and provided seven points in the final minutes. Williams would give the Golden Eagles its largest lead of the game at 42 with a driving layup with 1:15 to play. Following a Denver bucket, Jake Shannon bumped the lead back up to 42 just seconds later. ORU would end the game with its largest margin of victory in league play this season, 102-61.
 
Issac McBride had his fifth consecutive double-digit game with 17 and Kareem Thompson recorded 10 points as every Golden Eagles who saw action contributed with points. It was the second time in the previous three games that ORU had two score 20 or more. Defensively, it was the second fewest points ORU has held an opponent to this season. The Golden Eagles have also held conference opponents to 72 or fewer points in seven of their nine games played.

Individual Leaders
Oral Roberts: Abmas had 25 and Connor Vanover pulled down 10 rebounds.

Denver: Tommy Bruner captured 25 points and Lukas Kisunas grabbed 13 rebounds.

Inside the Box Score
- ORU shot 50 percent from the three-point line.
 
- ORU shot 56.7 percent from the field.

- The Golden Eagles had 20 assists on 38 made baskets.

- Oral Roberts had 42 points in the paint and 23 bench points.

- ORU forced DU to 17 turnovers and scored 20 points off those takeaways.

News and Notes

- Abmas has scored 2,285 career points which puts him 5^th all-time in the ORU record book. He is the eighth player to record 2,000-plus points in ORU history. He's recorded 376 three-pointer made making him second all-time in ORU history in that category.

- For Abmas, it was his 13^th 20-plus point game of the season and 60^th of his career.

- Vanover earned his third double-double of the season and the eighth double-double for ORU this season.
 
- Vanover has 67 blocks on the season and is second the nation in total blocks and in blocks per game.

- The Golden Eagles improved to 9-0 in Summit League play for the first time since 2011-12. ORU now has a minimum of a three game lead over everyone in the conference standings.

- ORU is 12-0 inside the Mabee Center this season.

- The 42 bench points were the second most of the season.
 
- Head Coach Paul Mills is six wins shy of 100 career wins as a head coach.   

Up Next
ORU will host the Omaha Mavericks Saturday, January 28 at 7 p.m. for Hall of Fame Night. ORU Athletics will induct men's basketball great, Caleb Green, and retire his jersey. 

For the latest information on ORU Men's Basketball, follow the Golden Eagles on Twitter and Instagram, or go to www.ORUAthletics.com. Fans can also receive updates on the team by downloading the ORU Athletics app from the App Store or Google Play Store.