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The Basics
Score: (RV) Oral Roberts 69 – South Dakota State 65
Record: ORU (27-4, 18-0) – SDSU (18-12, 13-5)
Location: Brookings, S.D. (Frost Arena)
 
BROOKINGS, S.D. – For the first time in program history the Oral Roberts men's basketball team has closed out the regular season undefeated in conference play to go 18-0 after a 69-65 victory at South Dakota State Saturday afternoon.  
 
ORU is the second team in Summit League history to manage the league's regular season schedule unscathed. Saturday's win notched the most conference wins in program history and extended the Golden Eagle win streak to 14, the nation's second longest. The 27 overall wins ties the most wins in a season since 2011-12. Five Golden Eagles recorded double-digits Saturday as Connor Vanover again led ORU in the scoring category.
 
The Golden Eagles started Saturday's game with a three-pointer by Kareem Thompson to put ORU on top early. South Dakota State would then answer on the following possession, two minutes in to the game. With the game tied, 11-11, at the 12:14 mark, ORU went on a 10-0 run to a take a double-digit lead one minute later. The Jacks would bring it back to within five, but the Golden Eagles extended the lead to 11 with 6:11 to play. After SDSU cut it to six, Patrick Mwamba then hit a three-point bucket to put ORU back up by nine. With 1:01 on the clock, Issac McBride hit two free-throws to go back up by 13, but SDSU would connect on a bucket and a couple of free-throws to close out the first half. ORU led 40-31 at the break after shooting 46.2 percent from the field.
 
ORU would lead by as much as 11 in the second, but South Dakota State would not go away. With 16:42 to play, the Jacks made it a five point game after an and-one basket. The Jackrabbits then made it a two point game with 11:49 to go. At the five minute mark, DeShang Weaver hit a three-pointer for the first bucket for ORU in four minutes to extend the lead back to five. Down the stretch, SDSU would pull back to within two, but Thompson hit two free-throws and Max Abmas nailed four to SDSU at arms-length for the win.
 
The Golden Eagles would hang to win at Frost Arena for the first time since 2011. Until today, South Dakota State had won 53 of their last 54 home games, which included 20-straight league games. The Golden Eagles have now won 24 of their last 25. Oral Roberts improves to 27-4 on the season, its best start since 1989-90 all-time. The 27 wins ties the most wins in a season as a Division One program. ORU closes out 18-0 in Summit League play and is one of two (Eastern Washington) teams nationally undefeated in conference play.

Individual Leaders
Oral Roberts: Vanover scored 14 points and Carlos Jurgens and Thompson each had six rebounds.

South Dakota State: Matt Dentlinger scored 23 and Zeke Mayo grabbed 12 rebounds along with his 20 points.

Inside the Box Score
- ORU shot 36.7 percent from the three-point line.
 
- ORU shot 35.7 percent from the field.

- The Golden Eagles had 11 assists on 20 made baskets.

- Oral Roberts had 16 points in the paint and nine bench points.

- ORU forced SDSU to 15 turnovers and scored 17 points off those takeaways.

News and Notes

- Abmas has scored 2,487 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 408 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 18^th-straight double-digit game. He is 4^th all-time in points scored in the Summit League record book, one point behind third and 16 behind second.

- Vanover has 96 blocks on the season and is second the nation in total blocks and in blocks per game.

- The 18 league wins are the most conference wins in program history.

- The 27 overall wins ties the most wins for the program since the 2011-12 season.
 
- It's the sixth time in program history the team has won 27 or more games.
 
- The Golden Eagles are one of two teams in the nation (Eastern Washington) to be undefeated in conference play.
 
- It's the first win at South Dakota State since 2011. ORU snapped a SDSU 20-league game win streak at home.

- ORU is on a 14 game win streak, the nation's second longest winning streak. The Golden Eagles have won seven-straight on the road, the fourth longest road game win streak in the nation.

Up Next
ORU heads to the 2023 Summit League Championship March 3-7 as the No. 1 seed and will play the winner of the No. 8/9 matchup Saturday, March 4 at 6 p.m. at the Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

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.