Red-hot ORU downs Jacks

Saturday, January 8

Frost Arena

7:30 p.m.

South Dakota State University

Oral Roberts

1/8/2011 11:04:00 PM | Men's Basketball

By: SDSU Sports Info

Oral Roberts shot 82 percent from three-point range for the game, including making 10-of-11 attempts in the second half, and held off a late South Dakota State rally to post a 90-82 victory in Summit League men's basketball action Saturday night at Frost Arena.

The Golden Eagles, who shot better than 60 percent from the field in each half, improved to 6-12 overall and 3-3 in The Summit League. SDSU dropped to 11-5 overall, 2-2 in league play.

The Golden Eagles led by 12, 78-66, with 3 minutes and 57 seconds remaining in the game before SDSU made one last run. A pair of three-pointers by Clint Sargent and a triple by Griffan Callahan were part of a 10-0 run that brought the Jackrabbits to within a basket with 2:48 to play.

Warren Niles then took over, leading the ORU blitzkrieg from behind the arc with a pair of three-pointers in the final two minutes to seal the victory. Niles made all five three-point attempts on the night, finishing with a team-high 25 points. As a team, the Golden Eagles made their final six three-point attempts of the night.

Nate Wolters led the Jackrabbits early, scoring 11 of the team's first 17 points with three three-pointers. Sargent's first three-pointer of the game gave SDSU its last lead of the night at 21-19.

ORU responded with a 10-2 run to take the lead for good. The Golden Eagles led 42-36 at halftime and led by as many as 13 in the second half.

For the game, ORU was 34-of-52 from the field, 65.4 percent, including 14-of-17 on three-point attempts. The Golden Eagles were 8-of-10 at the line. Ken Holdman and Steven Roundtree each tallied 18 points, with Roderick Pearson, who was 4-for-4 on 3's, adding 14. Roundtree added a game-high nine rebounds as ORU held a 35-22 rebounding advantage.

Wolters finished with a game-high 32 points on 12-of-16 shooting from the field. Sargent sank five three-pointers on the way to 20 points and Griffan Callahan added 16 points and a team-high five rebounds.

The Jackrabbits finished the night 29-of-59 from the field, 49.2 percent, including a 13-for-29 effort from behind the arc. SDSU didn't help itself at the free throw line, however, going 11-of-21, 52.4 percent.

SDSU returns to action Thursday (Jan. 13) at Western Illinois.

NOTES: Oral Roberts leads the series, 6-3 ... Sargent jumped four spots on the Jackrabbit all-time scoring charts to 13^th place, upping his career total to 1,290 points as he passed Ron Wiblemo (1,272 points from 1972-75), Kurt Meiser (1,281 points from 1995-98), Derrick Schantz (1,283 points from 2000-04) and Ben Beran (1,285 points from 2003-08) ... SDSU's 13 three-pointers tied a season high first set Nov. 27 against Eastern Illinois ... the 14 three-pointers by ORU tied a season high for three-pointers allowed first established by Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Dec. 11 ...Wolters topped the 30-point mark for the second time in topping the 300-point mark this season (308) ... SDSU is 1-5 this season when trailing at the half ... ORU shot 60.7 percent (17-of-28) in the first half and 70.8 percent (17-of-24) in the second half ... Saturday's game was the Lamb Bonanza at South Dakota State ... attendance was 2,637