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The Basics
Score: Oral Roberts 63 - TCU 71
Record: ORU (4-4) - TCU (6-1)
Location: Fort Worth, Texas (Ed & Rae Schollmaier Arena)
 
FORT WORTH, Texas – The Oral Roberts men's basketball team erased a double-digit lead in the second half, but could not complete the road comeback at TCU Thursday night falling 71-63 inside Schollmaier Arena.
 
Kareem Thompson's layup mid-way through the second half helped the Golden Eagles to their only lead of the night, 52-51, as they turned away a deficit that reached as high as 17 in the opening frame. ORU was unable to hold off TCU late as a 14-3 burst sealed the setback.
 
The Frogs opened the scoring hitting from distance before Thompson quickly knocked down a jumper on the next possession putting the Golden Eagles on the board. An 8-0 run by the home side during a 3:37 span pushed TCU in front, 11-2, but a triple from Francis Lacis ended the rally. DeShang Weaver drove to the basket and scored pulling ORU back within four, 11-7.
 
TCU took control of the game behind a 16-3 spurt covering more than six minutes until it was Lacis again that delivered for the Golden Eagles. The senior converted through contact and finished the and-one opportunity as ORU trailed 27-13. Lacis remained the bright spot for the offense in the early going as he helped the visitors during a 7-0 run and added another 3-pointer closing the gap to 33-23, but the Frogs maintained the double-digit lead at halftime, 39-29.
 
ORU came out of the locker room on fire as it hit five of its first six shot attempts in the second half, including a pair from distance, quickly cutting the margin down to six. Max Abmas was left wide open on the left wing and promptly drained the 3-pointer making it a 47-41 ballgame and the defense limited TCU to two points in three minutes. The deep ball continued to be the catalyst as the Golden Eagles made it a two-point game, 49-47, after Thompson and Abmas hit triples on back-to-back possessions.
 
A Thompson layup at the 10:43 mark gave ORU its first lead, 52-51, but the next seven points went to the Frogs until a Trey Phipps 3-pointer stopped the momentum. Another 7-0 run stretched TCU's advantage back into double digits before the Golden Eagles got within six following an Abmas triple, but TCU closed out the home win, 71-63.
 
Turning Point
The Golden Eagles held a one-point cushion, 52-51, only to have the Frogs respond by posting a 7-0 run in 90 seconds to regain control of the contest.

Individual Leaders
Oral Roberts: Abmas finished with 20 points on 6-of-13 shooting from 3-point range as the junior tallied his fifth game of the season and fourth straight with at least 20 points.

TCU: Mike Miles tallied 13 points and seven assists to pace the Frogs, while three others reached double-digit scoring.

Inside the Box Score
- Abmas scored 15 of his 20 points in the second half and made 5-of-9 from downtown in the final frame. Playing near his hometown for the first time in his college career, he also tallied six assists to match his season high and had five rebounds.
 
- Lacis poured in 14 of ORU's first 23 points during the game as he hit 5-of-7 shots and made three from distance. The Riga, Latvia, native gave ORU five rebounds and four assists to go with his double-figure scoring performance.
 
- Thompson and Weaver each chipped in nine points to aid the offensive efforts, while Thompson recorded four assists and Weaver blocked two shots and had a team-best seven rebounds.

News and Notes
- ORU shot a season-low three free throws Thursday and made just one. Entering the game as the nation's leader in made 3-pointers, it was able to convert 45 percent from deep hitting 14-of-31 coming from six different players.
 
- The Golden Eagles were out-rebounded by a 43-33 margin as the Frogs were able to pull down 17 offensive rebounds, a category in which they rank fourth in the NCAA.
 
- ORU closed the night posting 15 assists on 24 made baskets.

Up Next
ORU closes its Texas road trip Saturday night at 7 p.m. heading to Houston Baptist to face the Huskies at Sharp Gym featuring live audio on the ORU Sports Network.

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