Golden Eagles Survive Bison, Extend Streak To Six

The Oral Roberts Golden Eagles took the lead in the first half and never gave it back, but still had to sweat it out late to drop North Dakota State 89-80, notching their sixth consecutive win and fifth conference win of the season.

A pair of quick scores in the opening minutes of the game by North Dakota State's Taylor Braun put ORU in a 4-1 hole early, but three consecutive three-pointers, one each from Damen Bell-Holter, Dominique Morrison and Warren Niles, put the Golden Eagles on top 10-4 five minutes into the game.

The Bison answered back with a quick 9-3 run, five from Taylor Braun, to close the gap to one point, but ORU scored a quick four of their own to push the lead to 21-16 with less than 10 minutes to play in the half.

Holding a four-point lead just two minutes later, Morrison hit back-to-back three pointers to put ORU up 31-21 with less than five minutes left in the half.

ORU would hold that lead for the remainder of the half, until Lawrence Alexander hit a layup with just 30 seconds left to make it 38-31 heading into the locker room.

North Dakota State opened the second half in a frenzy, putting together a 7-2 run in the opening two minutes of the quarter to pull within two points in the opening minutes of the quarter. The teams traded buckets for the next two minutes, until back-to-back in the paint form the Bison gave them a 47-46 lead, their first since early in the game, less than five minutes into the second half.

However, just two minutes later, ORU scored six unanswered points – including four from Bell-Holter – to take a 55-50 lead at the 13-minute mark.

Trailing 66-63 with less than 10 minutes to play, the Bison scored on back-to-back possessions to take a one-point lead just eight seconds later. But ORU responded with a 9-2 run, five from Steven Roundtree to take a 75-69 lead with six minutes to play.

ORU would convert on its free throws and hold the lead in the closing minutes to edge the Bison.

Morrison set the pace for the Golden Eagles, scoring 24 points – including 12 from behind-the-arc – and grabbing five rebounds, while Bell-Holter turned in a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds.

Oral Roberts will continue its brief conference home stand at 7:05 p.m. Saturday against South Dakota State, which is coming off four consecutive wins.