TULSA, Okla. – In a tale of two halves, Oral Roberts got the hot hand late and scored 51 points in the second period to erase Missouri State’s four-point halftime lead and rolled down the stretch to an 82-72 win over the Bears here Saturday in the non-conference finale for MSU.
ORU (7-5) got 22 points from Max Abmas and 19 points apiece from Deandre Burns and Kevin Obanor. Obanor snagged a game-high 12 rebounds with teammate Emmanuel Nzekwesi also pitching in a double-double with 12 points and 11 boards.
The Bears (6-7) had five players score in double figures for the first time since Dec. 30, 2018, led by 14 points from Lamont West and 12 apiece from Gaige Prim, Tulio Da Silva and Isiaih Mosley. Josh Hall also pitched in 10 points and a team-high 6 rebounds for Missouri State, which was out-rebounded 41-28.
For the game, Oral Roberts produced 13 second-chance points from its 11 offensive caroms.
The turning point in the game came with 14:06 to go when the Golden Eagles overtook a 49-47 MSU lead with a traditional 3-point play from Obanor that sparked an 8-2 run by the home side over the next three minutes. The Bears chipped away to get the deficit to 55-53 on a layup by Hall and 56-55 on a pair of Mosley free throws, but the Golden Eagles amped things up down the stretch, and the Bears never led again.
With 9:25 to go, Prim scored from up close to make it a 60-57 contest, but the Bears would go the next five-plus minutes without a field goal. During that drought, ORU was either picking up free throws or dropping in improbable shots, including a trey by Abmas to push the home side up by 10 for the first time with just over five minutes to play.
Abmas was 7-of-8 from the field in the second half and 4-of-5 from long range in that span to spark the Oral Roberts comeback. His efforts helped ORU shoot 59 percent in the final stanza while the home side converted 12-of-14 free throws over the game’s last 20 minutes.
Missouri State would trim its deficit to seven twice in the final three minutes – first on a 3-pointer by Mosley and later on a dunk by Da Silva – but ORU tallied eight points in the final two minutes to keep the Bears at arm’s length.
For the fifth straight game, Missouri State scored more field goals than its opponent, converting 28-of-65 (.431) from the field and 8-of-234 (.333) from 3-point range. The Bears were also 8-of-10 (.800) at the free throw line with just 10 turnovers.
Oral Roberts was 27-of-58 (.466) from the field overall, 6-of-17 (.353) from beyond the arc and 22-of-26 (.846) in its ample free throw chances with 11 turnovers.
A fast-paced first half saw the Bears fire at a 48-percent clip to lead 35-31 at the intermission with West and Hall pacing the way with eight points apiece. Prim helped ignite a 9-2 MSU run six minutes into the game that flipped a three-point deficit into a 16-10 lead at the under-12 media timeout.
The Bears survived an 11-2 outburst by Oral Roberts that pushed the Golden Eagles ahead 28-24 with 5:21 left in the first half. MSU then responded with an 11-1 run of its own over the next three-and-a-half minutes with Da Silva and Mosley igniting the charges with efficient play to put the Bears up 35-29 and ultimately lead 35-31 at the halfway point.
After the holiday break, Missouri State returns to JQH Arena on Tuesday, Jan. 31 when the Bears host Evansville at 4 p.m. in the Missouri Valley Conference opener for both teams.
