Hot Shooting Lifts Oral Roberts Over Oakland

Grant Belcher, NewsOn6.com

OAKLAND, Michigan – If the Golden Eagles shoot like they did on Tuesday night, they will be a tough team to beat.

Oral Roberts put on a shooting and scoring clinic in an 89-77 victory against the Oakland Golden Grizzlies, moving to 4-0 in Summit League play (12-4 overall).

It's tough to define the most impressive offensive statistic in the victory.

The Golden Eagles shot 67 percent as a team from the floor.

They shot 69 percent from 3-point range, and not on a small sample size either, but rather 11-of-16 from beyond the arc.

And five of the Golden Eagles' eight players that saw playing time scored in double digits.

Dominique Morrison led the way with 20 points. Roderick Pearson, Jr. added 17 and Warren Niles and Steven Roundtree both put up 16 points apiece.

The Golden Grizzlies stayed in what could have been a blowout game by playing deliberately and taking care of the basketball, only turning it over seven times in the game to ORU's 18.

Oakland senior guard Reggie Hamilton led his team with 28 points in the game.

Oral Roberts led by seven points at one point in the first half, but couldn't blow the game open in the first half, leading by six at the half.

With the score at 37-33 a couple minutes into the second, ORU went into a quick 8-0 run to bring their lead to a dozen, and controlled the game from there.

The Golden Eagles led by as many as 20 at one point before settling for the 12-point win over the two-time defending Summit League champions.

The win also snaps a six-game losing streak that ORU had against Oakland coming into the contest. The last time Oral Roberts had beaten Oakland was Jan. 12, 2008.

ORU will continue Summit League play on Thursday at home against North Dakota State. Tipoff for the game is set for 7:05 p.m. at the Mabee Center.