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The Basics
Score: (RV) Oral Roberts 82 – Western Illinois 73
Record: ORU (23-4, 14-0) – WIU (15-11, 8-7)
Location: Macomb, Ill. (Western Hall)
 
MACOMB, ILL. – The Oral Roberts men's basketball claimed at least a share of the Summit League regular season title Saturday afternoon with an 82-73 win at Western Illinois.  
 
The Golden Eagles guaranteed themselves at least a share of the Summit League regular season title with Saturday's win, the first regular season championship for the program since 2011-12. ORU improved to 14-0 in league play making it the best start in conference play in program history. Max Abmas led ORU with 29 points as one of four Golden Eagles to record double-digits. Abmas led his team to its 10^th-straight victory, the nation's second longest winning streak, behind Eastern Washington (15).
 
The first half saw eight Golden Eagles record points with Abmas leading all scorers with 17. Western Illinois scored the first bucket which was their only lead in the first. Oral Roberts went on a 7-0 to pull ahead. The Leathernecks would tie the game, 9-9, minutes later. A 12-2 run would push the Golden Eagles ahead by 10 with 11:37 on the clock. WIU came back to within single digits before DeShang Weaver hit a three-pointer give the double-digit lead back to ORU with 7:07 to play. With 2:57 left, Abmas would hit his first of three triples in a row. Trey Phipps and Connor Vanover also hit three's to give ORU 15 points in the final three minutes. The Golden Eagles shot 61.8 percent from the field in the first half and 53.3 percent from long range going 8-for-15.
 
ORU led by as much as 24 in the second half with 18:34 to play. The Golden Eagles would maintain a 20-plus point lead through the first seven minutes. At the under eight minute media timeout, Western Illinois had cut ORU's lead down to 13. Abmas hit a three-pointer to lift ORU back up by 16 before the Leathernecks put together a 12-2 run to make it a six point game with 2:23 to go. WIU had a chance to make it a one possession game, but was rejected at the rim by Vanover with his eighth block of the day. Issac McBride hit a layup on the other end and after a defensive stop, he hit a pair of free-throws to make it a 10 point game with 1:06 to play. The Golden Eagles hit free-throws down the stretch to keep the Leathernecks at arms-length and win, 82-73.
 
It was Abmas' fourth-straight 20-point outing as the senior hit five three-point baskets on the day. McBride, Patrick Mwamba and Vanover each scored 12 on the day. Vanover had his fourth double-double on the season with 12 points and a season high 14 rebounds. He was two blocks shy of a triple-double. He's the only player in division one to record eight blocks twice this season. The Golden Eagles have now won 20 of their last 21. Oral Roberts improves to 23-4 on the season, its best start since 1989-90 all-time. In the Division One era, it's the best start to a season dating back to 1971-72. ORU now holds a four game lead in the Summit League standings with four games to play with a 14-0 record. The Golden Eagles need one more league win to clinch the regular season championship outright.

Individual Leaders
Oral Roberts: Abmas scored 29 points. Vanover had a double-double with 12 points and a season high 14 rebounds.

Western Illinois: Alec Rosner scored 29 points and he and Trenton Massner pulled down five rebounds.

Inside the Box Score
- ORU shot 40 percent from the three-point line.
 
- ORU shot 50.8 percent from the field.

- The Golden Eagles had 12 assists on 32 made baskets.

- Oral Roberts had 34 points in the paint and 18 bench points.

- ORU forced WIU to 10 turnovers and scored nine points off those takeaways.

News and Notes
- Abmas has scored 2,411 career points which puts him 4^th all-time in the ORU record book. He is the eighth player to record 2,000-plus points in ORU history. He's recorded 398 three-pointer made making him second all-time in ORU history in that category. He is No. 1 all-time in the Summit League in three-pointers made.

- For Abmas, it was his 14^th-straight double-digit game. He moved to 4^th all-time in points scored in the Summit League record book.

- Vanover has 88 blocks on the season and is second the nation in total blocks and in blocks per game.

- The 14 league wins ties for the most conference wins since the 2011-12 season.

- The 23 overall wins are the most wins for the program since the 2011-12 season.
 
- It's the ninth time in program history the team has won 23 or more games.
 
- The Golden Eagles are one of three teams in the nation to remain undefeated in conference play.
 
- Head Coach Paul Mills is one win shy of 100 career wins as a head coach.   

Up Next
Oral Roberts will return to the Mabee Center Thursday, February 17 to face the North Dakota Fighting Hawks at 7 p.m.

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.