ORU dominates Missouri State in men's basketball, 72-52
BY Staff Reports
Sunday, December 02, 2012
12/02/12 at 7:19 AM
Oral Roberts scored 19 of the game's first 21 points on its way to a dominating 72-52 win over Missouri State Saturday at JQH Arena in Springfield, Mo.
Warren Niles led ORU with 21 points and a career-high nine rebounds. He shot 8-of-10 from the field, including 3-of-3 from 3-point range.
"I'm pleased, obviously, with how we played," head coach Scott Sutton said. "It was very unexpected. I have a lot of respect for Coach (Paul) Lusk. I thought our guys did a great job of coming out with a lot of energy."
The Golden Eagles (4-4) made 55.6 percent of their shots in the first half. After Missouri State scored the game's first points, the Golden Eagles rattled off 19 straight to take a 19-2 lead with 8:55 to play in the half. ORU went into the locker room with a 25-point lead when Niles connected on a 3-pointer in the final seconds for a 40-15 advantage.
"Warren Niles continues to shoot the ball at a (high) rate ... and he got us going early," Sutton said. "Our defense was good early, and we probably got fortunate where they missed some shots."
ORU held a 44-34 advantage on the glass for the game and also had a season-low 12 turnovers.
"We did a great job on the glass. We really challenged our guys the last couple of days in practice, and I thought they did a fantastic job of getting defensive rebounds, getting out and pushing the ball and getting some opportunities," Sutton said.
Shawn Glover added 14 points for the Golden Eagles, while Damen Bell-Holter added 12 points and Steven Roundtree scored nine. Anthony Downing ended the game with 18 points for the Bears (2-5) but had just five in the first half.
ORU will play at Texas State at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
Original Print Headline: ORU dominates Missouri State
