Oral Roberts Men Can't Hold Big Lead

The Golden Eagles had their four-game winning streak snapped by Oakland.

Thursday, May 26th 2011, 11:28 am

By: News On 6

Originally Published: Feb 6, 2010 7:26 PM CDT

Andrew Topps
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

ROCHESTER HILLS, Michigan -- Johnathon Jones’ jumper with one second remaining was the deciding factor in Oral Roberts 79-77 loss to Oakland Saturday.

Warren Niles had 30 points and Dominique Morrison finished with 19. They were the only ORU players in double-figures.

The Golden Eagles (14-11, 9-4) led 46-33 at half time but saw it quickly disappear after scoring just one point in more than eight minutes to start the second half. The Grizzles (18-8, 12-1) capitalized by going on a 16-1 to take a 52-47 lead.

ORU trailed by 73-63 with 3:15 left in the game. The Golden Eagles made of run of their own and Niles layup tied the game at 77 with 14 left.

Oral Roberts took a 21-9 advantage to start the game. The Golden Eagles were able to push their lead to 14 points before the Grizzles started to claw away at the margin. Oakland cut the deficit to eight points before ORU pushed the lead back to 13.

Keith Benson scored 28 points to go along with 11 rebounds for Oakland. Jones and Larry Wright chipped in 16 points each.