| Updated: 2/02 10:50 pm |
Published: 2/02 10:48 pm
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BROOKINGS, S.D.-Oral Roberts was plagued by 15 turnovers, falling 75-60 on the road at South Dakota State, Thursday night, despite shooting 57 percent in the second half at Frost Arena.
The loss halted a 13-game winning streak, a 20-game Summit League winning streak, and a 13-game league road winning streak. ORU (20-5, 12-1) shot 50 percent (23-46) for the game for the fifth time in six games, while SDSU (18-6, 10-2) converted 48 percent (26-54) of their shots.
Roderick Pearson and Warren Niles led the way with 14 points apiece, while Dominique Morrison and Steven Roundtree each added 12, with the quartet accounting for 86 percent of the total offensive output for ORU, who was held to 60 points for the first time since a 58-55 victory on the road at UALR. Roundtree also had a game-high eight rebounds as ORU held a slight 28-27 edge on the boards.
The Jackrabbits converted the 15 ORU turnovers into 21 points and got to the line 20 times, hitting 17 of those to get the victory. It was the first time since ORU’s game on the road against Oakland on January 3 that an opponent has gotten to the line more than the Golden Eagles, who converted 11 of 14 free throw attempts.
SDSU was led by Nate Wolters who ended up with 24 points, barely out-doing his teammate Jordan Dykstra, who had 22 points and seven rebounds.
ORU did nothing to silence the crowd early as the Golden Eagles committed four early turnovers and hit just two of their first ten shots, falling behind 17-4 from less than nine minutes into the game. As the Golden Eagles ratcheted up the defense, forcing a back-court violation and getting a couple of steals, ORU cut the lead to as little as four at 19-15 after putting together an 11-2 run of their own.
The Dykstra/Wolters combination continued to work inside-out and got the lead back out to 11 after Dykstra’s and-1 with :47 left in the have made it 34-23 at the break.
A quick seven-point spurt by the Jackrabbits helped them extend their lead that stretched to as many as 20 in the second half. Each time ORU tried to mount a comeback it seemed like Dykstra or Wolters had an answer and the lead never got under 11 in the second half.
ORU remains on the road to face third-place North Dakota State on Saturday in a game that will tip off at 7:30 p.m. from Bison Sports Arena.
Story courtesy of ORU media relations.
