The Oral Roberts men’s basketball team claimed its ninth-straight victory Saturday afternoon with an 80-62 win over the Denver Pioneers in Denver, Colorado.
Max Abmas led the Golden Eagles with 17 points to lift him to fifth all-time in the ORU record book in points scored. Abmas needed three points to achieve the milestone and surpassed Golden Eagle great Dominique Morrison (2,080) for the achievement. Abmas now has 2,095 career points and is in the top five leading scorers with Greg Sutton, Richard Fuqua, Caleb Green and Anthony Roberts, respectively.
A hot start for ORU in the first half saw the Golden Eagles with a 10-2 run. The Golden Eagles defense buckled down and held Denver scoreless for nearly five minutes. Abmas was fouled on a three-point attempt in the first half and after three good free-throws where he became the 5th all-time scorer in ORU history. After leading 21-9 with 7:35 to go, Denver went on a 10-0 run and would eventually tie the game with 1:32 before the half. The Golden Eagles would get some separation and lead 29-25 at the break. The ORU defense was the highlight in the first half forcing Denver to turn the ball over eight times.
With keeping the Pioneers at arms-length to start the second half, the Golden Eagles sparked an 8-0 run to go up by 11 with 15:34 to play. After Denver then cut the ORU lead to seven, the Golden Eagles followed up with an 11-0 run to go up by 18 that was capitalized by a Trey Phipps three-pointer. The Pioneers cut it to 11, but down the stretch the Golden Eagles went back up by 19 with a Patrick Mwamba triple with five minutes to go. ORU closed out the game with the 80-62 victory and out-scored Denver, 51-37, in the second half.
After shooting 34.5 percent from the field in the first, ORU shot 55.6 percent overall in the second. It was the ninth-straight win for ORU as the Golden Eagles are on their longest winning streak since the 2011-12 season. The Golden Eagles extended their win streak over the Denver Pioneers to five and four consecutive on the road at Denver.
Individual Leaders
Oral Roberts: Abmas scored 17 points and Carlos Jurgens and Mwamba each pulled down six rebounds.
Denver: Tommy Bruner scored 24 points and Tyree Corbett grabbed 11 rebounds.
Inside the Box Score
– ORU shot 28.1 percent from the three-point line.
– ORU shot 46.2 percent from the field.
– The Golden Eagles had 17 assists on 30 made baskets.
– Oral Roberts had 36 points in the paint and 28 bench points.
– ORU forced Denver to 16 turnovers and scored 19 points off those takeaways.
News and Notes
– Abmas has scored 2,095 career points which puts him 5th all-time in the ORU record book. He is the eighth player to record 2,000-plus points in ORU history. He’s recorded 346 three-pointer made making him second all-time in ORU history in that category.
– Vanover has 48 blocks on the season and is second the nation in total blocks and in blocks per game.
– Kareem Thompson had a career high eight assists, previous was seven against South Dakota State this season (Dec. 19).
– For the 12th game this season ORU had four or more players score in double-digits.
Up Next
Oral Roberts will return to the Mabee Center Saturday, January 7 to face the Kansas City Roos at 7 p.m. for Faith & Family Night.
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