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The Basics
Score: Oral Roberts 74 – Omaha 67
Record: ORU (9-11, 3-4) – UNO (10-12, 3-4)
Location: Tulsa, Okla. (Mabee Center)
 
TULSA, Okla. – Issac McBride had his 12^th 20-plus scoring night of the season Thursday evening as the Oral Roberts men's basketball team defeated Omaha, 74-67, at the Mabee Center for Eli's Birthday.
 
McBride led all scorers with 22 points that was highlighted by going 8-for-8 from the foul line. Jailen Bedford followed up with 19 points, which made it his 15^th double-digit night of the season. Combined, the duo went 14-for-15 from the charity stripe leading ORU to its best night from the foul line all season with 10 or more attempts.
 
ORU trailed to start the game and was down by six just seven minutes in. A 6-0 run by ORU tied the game, 12-12, until Omaha retook the lead and then went back up by six with 8:40 left in the first. After a three by McBride, ORU tied the game, 20-20 and then took its first lead, 23-20, with a three by Bedford on the following possession. Another three, this time by Thompson, lifted ORU to a six point lead with 3:04 left before the half. Thompson's three his second of the half and after a defensive stop, the offense stayed hot and Bedford tripled to give ORU a 10 point lead, 32-22, with 1:23 on the clock. The scoring was a part of an 8-0, 22-4 run to close out the half leading, 34-22. At the 4:34 mark when ORU took the lead, they never gave it up the rest of the game. Bedford closed out the first half with 10 points as ORU shot 47 percent from the field. The Golden Eagle defense held Omaha to 0-for-7 from long range.
 
Omaha scored the first points of the second half with a three, but was shortly answered with bucket by Herron to push it back to double figures. After closing the gap to eight, Weaver hit a three to bring the lead back to 11. At 14:30, as ORU only led by nine, Jalen Miller, hit a three to put ORU up 12. The Golden Eagles kept shooting and pushed their lead to as much as 15 with 10:53 on the clock. This would be the largest lead of the game as Omaha would start to claw back, putting together an 11-2 run to pull back to within six with 5:52 to play. The Mavericks then made it a 59-54 game with 4 minutes to go until Thompson extended it back to seven. Omaha brought it back to five as ORU continued to lead, but Miller nailed his third three of the night and made it an eight point contest with 2:45 to play. McBride hit a three on the next possession and ORU pushed the lead to 11 with 1:46 remaining. In the final minutes, Omaha would make it as close as five twice with 43 seconds and again with 18 seconds left. McBride hit a pair of free-throws and would end it with a 74-67 win for the Golden Eagles.
 
Oral Roberts led for a total of 25 minutes in the contest with only one lead change. The Golden Eagle defense held the Mavericks to just 40 percent from the field and 26 percent from the three-point line and out-rebounded UNO by six.

Individual Leaders
Oral Roberts: McBride led with 22 points as Bedford and Thompson each pulled down eight boards.   
 
Omaha: Frankie Fidler scored 19 on the night and Tulsa native Marquel Sutton grabbed eight rebounds.

Inside the Box Score/News & Notes
- ORU shot 40 percent from the three-point line.
 
- ORU shot 42.1 percent from the field.

- The Golden Eagles had 13 assists on 24 made baskets.

- Oral Roberts had 24 points in the paint and 11 bench points.

- ORU forced Omaha to seven turnovers and scored eight points off those takeaways.
 
- It was McBride's 12^th 20-plus point night of the season and his career. He has scored 20 or more in five of his last six games.

- The Golden Eagles snapped a three game losing skid and beat Omaha for the ninth-consecutive time and move to 10-1 all-time against the Mavericks at the Mabee Center.

- From the free-throw line, it was the best percentage for ORU, 87.5 percent (14-for-16), of the season with 10 or more attempts.

Up Next
Oral Roberts will be back at the Mabee Center to face league leader South Dakota State Saturday, January 27 at 7 p.m. It will be First Responders & Military Night as Mark Allen Chevrolet is giving four free tickets to first responders and military members.

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.