Box Score | Season Stats | 2019-20 Schedule

The Basics
Score: South Dakota State 76 - Oral Roberts 61
Record: SDSU (16-8, 7-2 SL) – ORU (11-10, 4-4 SL)
Location: Tulsa, Okla. (Mabee Center)

TULSA, Okla. – The Oral Roberts men's basketball team got a 19-point, 14-rebound double-double from Emmanuel Nzekwesi, but suffered its first home loss of the season in a 76-61 setback to South Dakota State Wednesday night at the Mabee Center.

The Golden Eagles were unable to withstand a strong second half by the Summit League-leading Jackrabbits dropping their first game at home since Feb. 2, 2019, snapping a 10-game win streak inside the Mabee Center.

Elijah Lufile came up with the steal on the first defensive possession leading to a contested triple from Max Abmas and the Golden Eagles took an early 3-0 lead. After back-to-back conversions at the rim by Nzekwesi gave ORU a 7-3 cushion, the Jackrabbits bounced back posting the next seven points during a 12-2 run pushing their lead to 19-9.

The game of big swings continued as ORU punched back using a 9-0 stretch to even the score, 27-27, getting points from four different players, while holding the Jackrabbits scoreless for nearly three minutes. The Golden Eagles were only able to add one more basket before intermission as SDSU held a 33-29 edge at the break.

ORU stayed within striking distance in the early stages of the second half trailing 40-36 at the 14:25 mark. The Jackrabbits put together an 11-0 run during a three-minute span moving in front, 51-36. After the deficit swelled to 21 points, the Golden Eagles started to chip away, but could only get within 12 points with 4:41 to play before falling, 76-61.

Quote of the Game
"I thought we had some good looks in the second half and just couldn't get them to fall tonight. Emmanuel obviously played well around the rim, but our inability to throw it in from behind the 3-point line hurt." – Head Coach Paul Mills

Turning Point
SDSU turned a four-point advantage into a 21-point lead over a stretch of almost six minutes out-scoring the home side by a 21-4 margin.

Individual Leaders
Oral Roberts: Questionable to even play in the game until tip off, Nzekwesi came off the bench and led the charge for the Golden Eagles posting 19 points and 11 rebounds for his eighth double-double of the season hitting 8-of-14 shots.

South Dakota State: Noah Freidel more than doubled his season scoring average as the freshman tallied a game-high 22 points for the Jackrabbits.

Inside the Box Score
- Nzekwesi grabbed 11 of his game-high 14 rebounds on the offensive end of the court becoming the only Summit League player this season with double-digit offensive rebounds in a single game, while totaling three steals.

- Burns tallied 14 points and Abmas added 10 points as the other Golden Eagles to reach double-digit scoring, but the pair was limited to just 8-of-30 shooting from the floor and 3-of-14 from distance.

- Lufile pulled down seven rebounds, four of which were offensive, as ORU ended the action with 19 offensive and 19 defensive rebounds.

- Sam Kearns gave the Golden Eagles eight points and three rebounds and was joined by R.J. Fuqua with a team-leading three assists.

News and Notes
- The Golden Eagles came into the night leading The Summit League in scoring at 79.5 a contest, but were held to their lowest offensive output at home this season. ORU shot just 33 percent from the floor, it's second-lowest of the season, and 24 percent from distance.

- ORU was able to stay close in the first half thanks to 10 offensive rebounds and 17 points off 12 SDSU turnovers. The Jacks entered the mid-week test averaging 12.9 turnovers per contest. SDSU went on to turn the ball over just three times in the second half.

Up Next
ORU is set to honor its 2020 Hall of Fame Class Saturday night at halftime as the Golden Eagles host Denver for a Summit League matchup. First tip is slated for 7 p.m. with live coverage on the ORU Sports Network.

For the latest information on ORU men's basketball, follow @ORUMBB on Twitter or Instagram, or go to www.ORUAthletics.com. Fans can also receive updates on the team by downloading the ORU Athletics Front Row App at ORUAthletics.com/frontrow  or the ORU Golden Eagles Live App in iTunes or the Google Play Store. For tickets, visit mabeecenter.com or call 495-7ORU (7678).

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