Box Score | Season Stats | 2023-24 Schedule
 
The Basics
Score: Oral Roberts 110 – Ozark Christian 51
Record: ORU (4-4, 0-0) – OCC (3-6, 0-0)
Location: Tulsa, Okla. (Mabee Center)
 
TULSA, Okla. – The Oral Roberts men's basketball team won its 20^th-straight home game Saturday evening with a 110-51 victory over Ozark Christian at the Mabee Center.
 
Seven Golden Eagles scored in double-digits Saturday evening including four of the five starters and three off the bench. It was the highest total of bench points for ORU this season with 54. Elijah Lawrence and Trey Phipps led ORU off the bench with 13 apiece. All 12 Golden Eagles who saw action tonight contributed with points. Kareem Thompson made his 100^th career start and 80^th consecutive start Saturday evening and led his team with 15 points.
 
The first half saw ORU take a lead with a Jailen Bedford three just 25 seconds in to the game. After Bedford's three, the Golden Eagles would never tie nor trail in the game again. A 9-0 run would extend the lead to 17-5 with 14 minutes left in the half. With 12 minutes to go, Pablo Navarro made his Golden Eagle debut as he checked in with Cam Amboree. Amboree led ORU with six assists in the game and four in the first half. With Bedford leading the way at the conclusion of the first half with 12 points, Braeden Moore and Phipps added eight points each to give their team a 51-30 lead with a 50 percent shooting average. The defense held the Ambassadors to just 33 percent from the field and forced seven turnovers. Elijah Lawrence and Jake Shannon made their season debuts with first half minutes.
 
Lawrence led ORU in the second half with 13 points as Seth Kruse came in with five minutes to play in the game and scored his first career points. Lawrence had all 13 points in the final 10 minutes. Navarro got his first points on a layup as he was assisted by Amboree. Seconds later, Shannon got his first bucket of the season with six minutes to play off an offensive rebound. Navarro then put the Golden Eagles at the century mark with a three-pointer with 2:45 to play. The defense continued to shine as ORU forced 11 turnovers and only allowing Ozark Christian to score 21 in the second half. ORU did not commit a single turnover in the second half.  
 
Several Golden Eagles set new season and career records as Lawrence had a career high 13 points followed by Sir Issac Herron with a season high 12. Amboree's six assists were a career high as Shannon also set a career high with four steals. Saturday was the first time since last season against Ozark Christian that the Golden Eagles had six or more double figure scorers. It was also the first time since January 30, 2023, ORU scored more than 100 points in a game.

Individual Leaders
Oral Roberts: Thompson led all scorers with 15 points and Navarro had nine rebounds.

Ozark Christian: Andre Johnson scored 14 and Danny Foster grabbed nine rebounds.

Inside the Box Score/News & Notes
- ORU shot 42.1 percent from the three-point line.
 
- ORU shot 55 percent from the field.

- The Golden Eagles had 24 assists on 44 made baskets.

- Oral Roberts had 54 points in the paint and 54 bench points.

- ORU forced OCC to 18 turnovers and scored 19 points off those takeaways.

- Thompson earned his 100^th career start and 80^th-straight start. It was the fourth time this season he led his team in scoring and 38^th game of his career with 10-plus points.

- The 24 assists are the most in a game for ORU since the Golden Eagles had 26 assists in 2020 at Western Illinois.

- All 12 Golden Eagles who made an appearance scored points.

- Braeden Moore went 5-for-5 from the field with a career high 12 points.

- ORU now has the second longest active home game win streak at 20, behind leader UCLA at 29.

Up Next
ORU will hit the road to Lubbock, Texas, to face the Texas Tech Red Raiders for its third Power Five game of the season Tuesday, December 12 at 8 p.m. on ESPN+.  

For the latest information on ORU Men's Basketball, follow the Golden Eagles on Twitter and Instagram, or go to www.ORUAthletics.com. Fans can also receive updates on the team by downloading the ORU Athletics app from the App Store or Google Play Store.