Golden Eagles Handle Rogers State In Exhibition Opener

NewsOn6.com

TULSA, Oklahoma – Oral Roberts used a balanced scoring attack to cruise past Rogers State 78-45 in exhibition play on Tuesday night.

Michael Craion led the Golden Eagles with 13 points and 12 boards. Steven Roundtree, Warren Niles, Roderick Pearson and Ken Holdman also reached double digits.

ORU established itself early in the game, jumping out to an early 10-1 lead and held RSU without a field goal for the first six minutes of the game.

Oral Roberts used another 14-0 run midway through the first half to distance itself from the Hillcats. ORU doubled up on Rogers State 44-22 at the half.

Fans didn't get to see much of Preseason Summit League Player of the Year Dominique Morrison as he was in foul trouble for much of the game and eventually fouled out with 11 minutes to play. He finished with eight points and two boards.

Despite the big win, ORU's shooting wasn't necessarily spectacular, putting up marks of 42 percent overall and 28 percent from 3-point range.

But the defensive effort was more than enough to make up for it as the Golden Eagles held the Hillcats to just 30 percent shooting.

No RSU players reached double digits, but Kenny Edwards led the team with nine points.

The exhibition game was the first of two for ORU at the Mabee Center.

The Golden Eagles will host Northeastern State on Sunday at 3:05 p.m. before opening the regular season on the road at newly-acquired Big 12 member West Virginia on Nov. 11.