Golden Eagles Get Gritty Win Over South Dakota State, 77-74

Courtesy: ORU Media Relations

TULSA— Damen Bell-Holter (Hydaburg, Alaska) and Steven Roundtree (Jacksonville, Fla.) combined for 36 points and 25 rebounds to help lead Oral Roberts to a 77-73 win over South Dakota State in a crucial Summit League contest, Thursday at Mabee Center.

The win not only snaps ORU’s two-game losing streak and improves the Golden Eagles to 10-14 overall and 7-5 in Summit play, but it also gives head coach Scott Sutton his 214th career victory, tying him with Ken Trickey for the most in ORU history. South Dakota State falls to 14-9 and 6-6.

A three-point play by Dominique Morrison (Kansas City, Mo.) gave ORU a 72-65 lead with 4:31 to play, but the Jackrabbits battled back. Tony Fiegen converted a three-point play and Chad White drained a three-pointer from the left corner as SDSU trimmed the lead to 72-71 with 3:53 left.

The Jacks regained the lead when Clint Sargent’s jumper gave them a 73-72 advantage with 2:01 to go.

But Bell-Holter converted a pair of free throw at 1:04 for a 74-73 ORU lead. After Sargent missed an open three, Bell-Holter scored on a put-back for a 76-73 advantage with 20 seconds remaining.

Griffan Callahan missed a three-pointer from the right wing with 12 seconds left and Roundtree was fouled after securing the rebound. The freshman forward converted one-of-two free throws with nine seconds left for a 77-73 lead then collected the rebound on a three-point miss by Sargent as time expired.

After giving up 52 percent shooting in the first half, the Golden Eagles limited SDSU to 37 percent from the field in the second half, and 45 percent for the game. SDSU was 8-of-27 from three-point range but made just 1-of-12 in the final 20 minutes.

ORU shot 43 percent for the game, but made up for it with a 22-of-29 effort at the line and a 45-29 rebounding advantage.

Bell-Holter finished with 18 points and 15 rebounds for his third straight double-double. The sophomore center was 6-of-12 from the field and 6-of-7 from the line, adding four assists.

Roundtree had 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting and a 6-of-9 effort at the stripe. He also added 10 rebounds, four assists and two steals.

Morrison led all scorers with 22 points for ORU.

Nate Wolters led South Dakota State with 18 points. The Jacks led 42-38 at halftime.