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The Basics
Score: No. 4 Oral Roberts 90 - No. 1 South Dakota State 88
Record: ORU (15-10) - SDSU (16-7)
Location: Sioux Falls, S.D. (Sanford Pentagon)
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. –
Kevin Obanor's put-back at the buzzer sent the No. 4 Oral Roberts men's basketball team to a 90-88 win over top-seeded South Dakota State Monday night in The Summit League Semifinals from Sanford Pentagon. The win propels the Golden Eagles to the championship game for the first time in 10 years.
Obanor hammered a dunk with 14 seconds to play giving ORU an 88-85 cushion. SDSU's Baylor Scheierman was fouled and hit all three free throws in the final 10 seconds to even the score leading to the buzzer-beating heroics by Obanor sending the Golden Eagles to the league championship, one game away from a NCAA bid.
ORU's tenacious defense carried over from Sunday as it forced SDSU into four turnovers in the first three minutes and
Max Abmas took advantage of a mid-court steal by
Carlos Jürgens for a 2-0 lead. The margin pushed to 13-8 as three players hit from 3-point range before the Jackrabbits fought back to take a 24-20 lead. Another
DeShang Weaver triple closed the gap and ORU jumped to a 27-26 advantage on an Abmas layup.
The action turned frantic and both sides pushed the tempo on the way to 12 lead changes and three tie scores. The final four minutes of the half belonged to the Golden Eagles turning a one-point deficit into a 38-30 advantage covering 3:03 with nine-straight points. Abmas posted the last five points of the frame as ORU staked a 43-34 lead at halftime.
After SDSU attempted to cut into the deficit, a Jürgens driving layup kept the Golden Eagles margin at nine, 53-44, but a 3-pointer and dunk by the Jacks brought the one-sided crowd into the game as the lead dipped to one. Obanor quickly answered hitting a triple from the top of the key helping ORU back to an eight-point cushion, 68-60.
Thompson calmly drilled a 3-pointer as the Golden Eagles kept the Jacks at bay after a 7-0 surge and a
Francis Lacis long ball stretched the advantage back to seven, 78-71, with less than five minutes to play. SDSU made it a one-point game only to see the sophomore Thompson connect on his fourth triple and the Jacks answered the shot from deep to stay within one possession. After three SDSU free throws tied the game, 88-88, Obanor tipped in a miss and beat the buzzer giving ORU the upset victory knocking out the No. 1 seed.
Individual Leaders
Oral Roberts: Thompson was on his game Monday as the Florence, Alabama, native had his first 20-point game of the season posting 22 points on an 8-of-11 effort from the floor, including four makes from 3-point range at clutch moments.
South Dakota State: Scheierman turned it on in the second half with 20 of his game-high 28 points and added nine rebounds and seven assists.
Inside the Box Score
- Thompson picked an opportune time to lead the team in scoring for the first time this year putting together a 22-point performance and had four rebounds, two assists and two steals.
- Abmas recorded his first collegiate double-double with 18 points and 10 assists to go with three steals and three rebounds.
- Lacis came up with timely shooting as the junior reached double-digit scoring for the first time this season giving ORU 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting and 3-of-5 from distance.
- Obanor battled foul trouble all night and was still able to record 14 points, all of which came in the second half. Weaver and Jürgens combined for 25 points and missed only two shots all night.
- The Golden Eagles made all 14 free-throw attempts, while the Jacks were 14-of-21 (67 percent).
News and Notes
- ORU will make its first appearance in the league's title game for the first time since 2010-11.
- The Golden Eagles had six players reach double-digit scoring for the first time since Feb. 27, 2020 against Western Illinois.
- ORU was out-scored by a 25-2 margin on second-chance points, but it was the only two points that made the biggest difference coming on Obanor's game winner.
- The Golden Eagles defeated the Jackrabbits for the first time at The Summit League Championships after dropping the first two meetings.
Up Next
ORU plays for the league's automatic bid into the NCAA Championship Tuesday night on national TV at 8 p.m. live on ESPN2. Fans also can tune in to the game on the ORU Sports Network and on local radio at 97.1FM.
For the latest information on ORU Men's Basketball, follow the Golden Eagles on
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www.ORUAthletics.com. Fans can also receive updates on the team by downloading the ORU Athletics app from the
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