Oral Roberts 67, UMKC 55

<br>KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) _ Markius Barnes scored 20 points to lead Oral Roberts to a 67-55 win over UMKC Saturday night in the Mid-Continent Conference opener for both schools. <br><br>The Golden Eagles

Saturday, January 5th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) _ Markius Barnes scored 20 points to lead Oral Roberts to a 67-55 win over UMKC Saturday night in the Mid-Continent Conference opener for both schools.

The Golden Eagles (7-9, 1-0 MCC) took the lead on a Barnes 3-point shot with 14:54 left in the first half. That gave the Golden Eagles a 10-7 advantage, and they never trailed again.

Oral Roberts led 33-27 at halftime.

UMKC (8-4, 0-1) was led by Michael Watson, the leading scorer in the conference at 21.4 points per game, who finished with 27 points.

Watson scored 10 points in less than two minutes late in the second half to bring the Kangaroos within three at 53-50.

But Luke Spencer-Gardner hit a short shot at the four-minute mark and a 3-pointer at 3:05 to give the Golden Eagles a 58-50 lead.

Richie Myers added 15 and Spencer-Gardner and Tyrone Tiggs had 10 each for Oral Roberts.

Michael Jackson finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds for UMKC.