The Basics
Score: ORU 86 - NMSU 83
Records: Oral Roberts (3-4) - New Mexico State
(4-6)
Location: Mabee Center - Tulsa, Okla.
TULSA, Okla. - The Oral Roberts University men's basketball team shot 65 percent (17-26) and turned the ball over just twice in the second half, racing past New Mexico State 86-83 Saturday night at the Mabee Center.
ORU (3-4) won its sixth-straight regular season game at home, and scored more than 80 points for the first time this season. The Golden Eagles used an extended run of 26-8 over a span of 6:58 in the second half to turn it into a double-digit lead.
NMSU (4-6) had six players score in double figures and shot nearly 50 percent (29-59) for the game, but could not stop ORU's offensive attack in the second half.
Quote of the Game
"I'm proud of our guys, especially how we played in the second
half. The game is a lot easier when shots go in. That's a really
good New Mexico State team. I think people will look back at the
end of the year and circle this as a quality win for our program.
Hopefully we can build off of this." - Scott
Sutton
Turning Point
Aaron
Young hit back-to-back 3-pointers as part of a 9-1 ORU run that
tied the game at 46-46 with 14:33 to play. The run came after New
Mexico State had opened its largest lead of the game at 8 after
scoring the first four points of the second half.
Individual Leaders
Oral Roberts: Obi
Emegano scored a game-high 24 points, his fourth
20-point game of the season and second in the last three games.
Korey
Billbury added 21 points to mark the first time ORU
had two players with at least 20 points since March 1, 2014 when Shawn
Glover (29) and Billbury (21) did so. Denell
Henderson added 11 points and a team-high eight
rebounds.
New Mexico State: All five Aggie starters and six players
total scored in double figures, led by Ian Baker's
15. Jalyn Pennie led the Aggies in rebounding with eight.
Inside the Box Score
- ORU led for 26:50 of the game, including the final
13:40 of the game, roaring back after NMSU had opened up an 8 point
lead in the second half.
- After turning the ball over 11 times in the first half, ORU gave
it away just twice in the second half.
- ORU started the game 0-for-5 from 3-point range but hit 5 of the
next 7 in the game.
- NMSU led the rebounding battle 34-30, including 17 offensive
rebounds, which the Aggies turned into 19 second chance points.
- ORU hit its first 10 free throws, but was just 15-25 in the
second half
News & Notes
- NMSU closed the first half on a 13-6 run to take a
36-32 lead, marking just the second time all season in which ORU
trailed at the break..
- ORU used a 15-3 run over 3:29 in the second half to take over
the lead and extend it to four, 52-48 with 13:03 to play in the
game.
- The Golden Eagles extended the run to 26-8 over a span of 6:58
to make it 63-53.
- ORU scored 54 points in the second half. It was the first time
since scoring 55 in the second half against Houston Baptist (Jan.
2, 2014) in which ORU has top 50 in the second half.
- In his first career start, Aaron
Young scored a career-high 9 points, hitting all three
of his 3-point attempts.
Up Next
ORU will remain at the Mabee Center Monday, December
15 for a 7 p.m. tip off against Missouri State.
For the latest information on ORU men's basketball, follow @ORUMBB on Twitter or go to www.ORUAthletics.com.
---www.ORUAthletics.com-
| Box Score |
