Box Score | Season Stats | 2022-23 Schedule

The Basics
Score: Oral Roberts 74 – Kansas City 71
Record: ORU (13-3, 4-0) – KC (6-11, 2-2)
Location: Tulsa, Okla. (Mabee Center)
 
TULSA, Okla. – Max Abmas hit a half-court shot at the buzzer to give the Oral Roberts men's basketball team its 10th-straight victory Saturday evening with a 74-71 win over the Kansas City Roos at the Mabee Center.
 
In front of a crowd of 6,000-plus on their feet at the Mabee Center, Golden Eagle fans saw an instant classic with an 'Expect a Miracle' finish. Behind a season high 36 points, Abmas led all scorers, and including his game winner, went 6-for-12 from the three-point line, tying his season high. He also went 50 percent overall, shooting 9-for-18 from the field. Abmas saw himself with his 100^th career double-digit game. Connor Vanover also had a double-digit night scoring 18, his 10^th of the season.
 
Kansas City jumped out with an early 4-0 lead before a dunk by Vanover put the Golden Eagles on the board. After KC regained the lead, a quick three-pointer by Max Abmas and a layup by Carlos Jurgens put ORU back on top, five minutes in. ORU would lead by as much as five before a 12-0 Kansas City run gave the Roos a six point lead. KC would lead by as much as 12 in the first before the Golden Eagles brought it back to within seven at the break. The visitors shot 50 percent from the field in the first and 50 percent from three-point range. Vanover led the Golden Eagles with 13 points in the first.
 
In the second half, ORU was able to eventually eliminate its deficit and tie the game, 47-47, with 11:06 left on the clock. After a few lead changes, the game was tied again, 59-59, with 4:13 to go. A couple of technical fouls were called on the Roos and Abmas went to the line for four free-throws and hit all four. Kansas City connected on an and-one free-throw on the other end to make it a three point game. On the following possession, Abmas hit a deep shot to put ORU up by six, its largest lead of the game. After Kansas City pulled back to within one, with 49 seconds on the clock, Abmas made a layup to put the lead back to three. Shemarri Allen drained a three-pointer to tie the game, 71-71, for Kansas City with 2.8 seconds on the clock. Trying to avoid overtime, Abmas took the ball off the inbound with seconds ticking away and pulled up from half-court and sank the long ball at the buzzer for the 74-71 victory. Abmas had 30 second half points as the senior went 7-for-10 overall and 11-for-11 from the free-throw line.
 
After shooting 42.3 percent from the field in the first, ORU shot 54.5 percent overall in the second. It was the 10th-straight win for ORU as the Golden Eagles are on their longest winning streak since the 2011-12 season. The Golden Eagles are also 4-0 in Summit League play for the first time since 2011-12, and now hold at least a two game lead over all league opponents.   

Individual Leaders
Oral Roberts: Abmas had a season high 36 and Vanover pulled down six rebounds.

Kansas City: RayQuawndis Mitchell scored 23 and Allen David Mukeba grabbed eight boards.

Inside the Box Score
- ORU shot 40.7 percent from the three-point line.
 
- ORU shot 47.9 percent from the field.


- The Golden Eagles had 14 assists on 23 made baskets.


- Oral Roberts had 20 points in the paint and four bench points.


- ORU forced Kansas City to 13 turnovers and scored 16 points off those takeaways.

News and Notes

- Abmas has scored 2,130 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 352 three-pointer made making him second all-time in ORU history in that category.

- Abmas has now captured 100 career games with double-digit points.
 
- Vanover has 54 blocks on the season and is second the nation in total blocks and in blocks per game.

- The last time ORU won a game at the buzzer was at Western Illinois January 8, 2021.  

- It was the third win of the season for ORU when trailing at halftime.

Up Next
The Golden Eagles will head to Albuquerque, New Mexico, to take on No. 21 New Mexico Monday, January 9 at 8 p.m. CST.

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.