RECAP: Denver Holds Off ORU In Summit League Opener

The Oral Roberts men's basketball team made a number of runs throughout the game but could not complete the comeback on the road Wednesday at Denver as the Pioneers held off the late ORU run in a 77-73 Golden Eagle loss.

ORU got 23 points from Kris Martin and 11 points each from Jalen Bradley and Albert Owens. The Golden Eagles won the rebounding battle in the second half but trailed 40-37 on the boards for the contest. Owens blocked a pair of shots which put him in a tie for 10th in the ORU record books with 88 career blocks, matching the total by Ray Thompson (1991-93).

Denver got 14 points from Daniel Amigo and 11 from Joe Rosga, while Christian Mackey led the rebounding effort with nine boards.

Quote of the Game
"We had a lot more energy and effort in the second half. When you dig yourself such a big hole, it takes so much energy trying to fight back. The bottom line is, the first half we didn't play with much energy and dug ourselves too big of a hole and you saw a team in Denver who is playing with a lot of confidence. Winning is hard on the road, you have to play with so much more energy and so much more toughness than the home team and we didn't do that, especially in the first half." – Head Coach Scott Sutton

Turning Point
Missed free throws from the Pioneers down the stretch allowed ORU a chance, and one of Martin's five 3-pointers, along with a free throw from Aaron Anderson made it a 3-point game with less than two minutes to play. The Pioneers scored the next four points to dash ORU's hopes of stealing a road win.

Individual Leaders
Oral Roberts:  Martin's 23 points paced the offense, while Nzekwesi led the rebounding effort with nine rebounds, eight of which came in the second half.
Denver: Amigo played just 20 minutes but had 14 points and eight rebounds on a 6-9 shooting effort. Mackey led the way on the boards with nine rebounds.

Inside the Box Score

- ORU shot 42 percent (26-62) for the game and 28 percent (7-25) from 3-point range.

- Denver shot 46 percent (29-63) from the field and 50 percent (6-12) from 3-point range.

- Neither team shot the ball particularly well from the free throw line with ORU connecting on 70 percent (14-20) while Denver hit 59 percent (13-22) of their attempts.

- ORU led 11-5 in second chance points, but Denver had a 13-7 advantage in points off turnovers, a 12-2 lead in fast break points, and led by Amigo, a 34-11 advantage off the bench.

News and Notes
- Owens swatted a pair of shots Wednesday giving him 88 for his career, tying him with Ray Thompson for 10th overall in the ORU record books.

- Martin posted just the second 20-point game of his career, including 14 points in the first half alone.

- Martin has now hit at least one 3-pointer in each of the last eight games, and 35 games already in his career.

- Denver led by double digits in the first half, but ORU mounted a 7-0 run to cut it to a five point game with 2:36 to go in the frame. Denver scored the next seven before an Aaron Young layup snapped the streak and made it 40-28 at the break.

- ORU made a number of 7-0 runs and cut the lead to as few as two, and had it a one possession game with less than two minutes to play, but were never able to complete the comeback.

Up Next 

The Golden Eagles will stay on the road to face preseason favorite Fort Wayne, Saturday afternoon in Indiana.