Box Score | Season Stats | 2019-20 Schedule

The Basics
Score: Purdue Fort Wayne 66 - Oral Roberts 72
Record: PFW (13-18, 6-10 SL) – ORU (16-13, 9-7 SL)
Location: Tulsa, Okla. (Mabee Center)

TULSA, Okla. – Max Abmas and R.J. Fuqua each scored at least 20 points helping the Oral Roberts men's basketball team close the regular season with a 72-66 victory over Purdue Fort Wayne Saturday on Senior Night at the Mabee Center.

The Golden Eagles sent its seniors out with a win thanks to clutch efforts by three seniors in the final minutes getting a pair of free throws from Deondre Burns after Sam Kearns grabbed a defensive rebound in a two-point ballgame. Emmanuel Nzekwesi used a thundering dunk before the buzzer to secure ORU's second-best home record this century finishing 13-1 at the Mabee Center in 2019-20.

Tied 2-2 in the opening minutes, the Mastodons scored the next nine points building their largest lead of the night before the Golden Eagles responded with a 16-4 run of their own moving in front, 18-15, capped on back-to-back 3-pointers from Fuqua. The lead changed hands six times until Abmas converted an and-one chance and Fuqua made a layup with five seconds left in the half as ORU scored the final five points of the frame to take a 35-31 lead into the locker room.

Abmas splashed triples on the Golden Eagles first two possessions of the second stanza pushing their margin to double digits, 41-31. A 9-2 run by the home team covering more than four minutes allowed ORU to stretch the advantage to 14 and stayed in control through the middle stages of the frame.

The Mastodons made a furious comeback bid down the stretch turning a seven-point deficit in the final three minutes into a two-point game with 1:07 remaining. Purdue Fort Wayne had an open look from 3-point range with 19 seconds remaining, but Kearns corralled the rebound and Burns hit two free throws making it a two possession game. Nzekwesi put the stamp on the night on an emphatic dunk in the final second sealing ORU's victory, 72-66.

Quote of the Game
"For Emmanuel to have an exclamation point like that to end his career at ORU playing at home, that was obviously pretty cool. Now, playing in the conference tournament you get the ability to try and win and play in March Madness." – Head Coach Paul Mills

Turning Point
Already holding a four-point cushion at halftime, it was the hot-shooting Abmas that gave the Golden Eagles a 10-point lead just 45 seconds into the second half as he knocked down a pair of 3-pointers. The freshman added another from downtown a minute later as he made 3-of-4 from distance in a stretch of 1:48 keeping ORU in front by double figures.

Individual Leaders
Oral Roberts: Fuqua used his ball handling to get open looks at the basket leading to an 8-of-12 effort from the floor posting a career-best 20 points. He made 3-of-5 attempts from distance in the first half to register 14 points before halftime.

Purdue Fort Wayne: Mastodons' leading scorer, Jarred Godfrey, posted a team-leading 21 points, including 14 in the opening half, and four assists, while matching the team high at eight rebounds.

Inside the Box Score
- Fuqua had a career night Saturday reaching the 20-point mark for the first time as a Golden Eagle. The redshirt sophomore added just the fifth block of his ORU career and tallied six rebounds.

- Abmas caught fire in the early minutes of the second half hitting three of his game-high four 3-pointers on the way to 23 points leading all scorers in the contest. The freshman shot 9-of-19 from the field recording 20 or more points in a game for the eighth time this season.

- Nzekwesi gave the Golden Eagles 19 points and a team-best eight rebounds knocking down 8-of-12 shot attempts. Six of the Mastodons 13 fouls were committed on the redshirt senior.

- ORU turned 17 turnovers by Purdue Fort Wayne into 20 points on the offensive end.

News and Notes
- Saturday marked the first time in program the men's basketball team competed on Leap Day improving to 1-0 all-time on February 29.

- The Golden Eagles closed the regular season with a winning record for the first time since 2014-15 and first in the tenure of Head Coach Paul Mills finishing 16-13 overall and 9-7 in Summit League play.

- ORU recorded double-digit steals for the fifth time in 2019-20 equaling a season high as the trio of Abmas, Burns and Kearns each tallied two.

- The Golden Eagles honored their five seniors Deondre Burns, Sam Kearns, Aidan Saunders, Ty Lazenby and Emmanuel Nzekwesi during a post-game ceremony.

Up Next
ORU heads to The Summit League Men's Basketball Championship presented by U.S. Air Force Special Warfare where it is the No. 4 seed. The Golden Eagles will face No. 5 Omaha, a team it split the regular season series against, Sunday night at 6 p.m. inside the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

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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