Box Score The Basics
Score: North Dakota State 60 – Oral Roberts 56
Records: NDSU 22-9 – ORU 18-14
Location: Denny Sanford PREMIER CENTER – Sioux Falls, S.D.
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – No. 3 Oral Roberts erased a 10-point deficit and had the game tied with 1:38 to play but could not take the lead as the Golden Eagles fell 60-56 to No. 2 North Dakota State Monday night in the semifinals of the Summit League Tournament at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center.
Obi Emegano scored a game high 25 points in the loss, and two of his 11 free throws knotted the game at 56-56 with less than two minutes to play. Bobby Word added 10 points and both Emegano and Word led the team with three assists each. Emegano also led the rebounding effort, matching his career high with eight rebounds.
Lawrence Alexander led the Bison with 15 points, while Carlin Dupree added 13 and A.J. Jacobsen scored 11. Dupree grabbed a team-high seven rebounds, leading the Bison to a 34-29 rebounding advantage.
Quote of the Game
"I'm disappointed that we didn't win, but I thought our guys really competed in the second half and put us in a position to win a tough game. It seemed like we were fighting uphill the whole second half. We had it tied a couple of times but couldn't get key defensive stops." – Coach Scott Sutton
Turning Point
Down 58-56, Bobby Word had a shot with 15 seconds to play that would have given ORU the lead, but Lawrence Alexander was able to block the shot and recover the rebound.
Individual Leaders
Oral Roberts: Obi Emegano led ORU in points (25), rebounds (8), steals (2) and tied Bobby Word with a team-high three assists.
NDSU: Lawrence Alexander scored 15 points, while Carlin Dupree had 13 points and a team high seven rebounds.
Inside the Box Score
- A 7-0 run to end the first half gave NDSU its largest lead of the half at eight, taking a 34-26 lead into the locker room. The Bison scored the first two points of the second half to take their largest lead of the game at 10.
- ORU made 10 3-pointers in each of the first two meetings against the Bison, but hit just 2-10 on Monday.
- NDSU connected on 23-49 (46.9 percent) from the field while ORU was 20-52 (38.5 percent) for the game.
- For the first time in three games against the Bison this year, ORU shot more free throws (14-18) than NDSU (11-17).
News & Notes
- Bobby Word hit his first 3-point attempt of the game, extending ORU's streak of games with a made three to 88 games. Word has now hit a 3-pointer in five straight games, and 25 games this season.
- Obi Emegano scored nine of ORU's first 12 points of the game, pushing ORU out to an early 12-8 lead.
- Emegano posted his 15th 20-point game of the season and his fourth in the last six games.
- For the second time in the last two Summit League Tournaments, ORU was knocked out in the semifinals.
- In three games against NDSU this season, Emegano averaged 28 points per game, scoring 25 or more in all three contests.
- ORU has posted a winning season in each of the last 14 years, dating back to Sutton's second year at ORU. In five of the last six years, ORU has won at least 18 games.
Up Next
ORU's season ends with an 18-14 record and a third place finish in the Summit League.
For the latest information on ORU men's basketball, follow @ORUMBB on Twitter or go to www.ORUAthletics.com.
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