BROOKINGS, S.D. – South Dakota State used a 12-2 run late in the second half to pull away from Oral Roberts en route to an 83-72 victory on Saturday, Feb. 10, in Frost Arena in front of a crowd of 3,422. The win improved the Jackrabbits to 14-11 overall, while dropping the Golden Eagles to 11-13, as the two sides split the regular season series.
Oral Roberts jumped out early against SDSU and held an 18-7 advantage following a pair of Issac McBride free throws with 12 minutes, 8 seconds remaining in the first half. The Jacks slowly trimmed the deficit over the course of the opening half. A Zeke Mayo jumper gave the Jacks a 36-35 edge late in the half and a 7-0 scoring run pushed the Jacks ahead 43-37 at the halftime break.
The Golden Eagles put up a fight to begin the second half and worked their way back into the lead. Kareem Thompson’s 3-pointer at the 8:24 mark gave ORU its first advantage of the second half at 63-62, but South Dakota State responded.
William Kyle III made a layup, then SDSU’s next possession saw him corral an offensive rebound and his resulting pass to Mayo led to a layup, putting the Jackrabbits up 66-63. Oral Roberts’ Jailen Bedford made two free throws to cut the score to 66-65.
The Jackrabbits put the game out of reach from there.
Mayo scored four consecutive points, Matt Mims made a 3-pointer and Charlie Easley scored five straight points to cap the big scoring run. The nearly three-minute run saw the Jackrabbits’ lead balloon to 78-67 with 2:03 to play.
The Golden Eagles got the margin back to single digits briefly before a pair of Luke Appel free throws essentially closed the game out.
South Dakota State’s win improved the squad’s Summit League record to 7-3 which stands alone atop the conference standings. Oral Roberts is now 5-6 in league action.
Notes
- SDSU had four double-digit scorers led by Appel’s season-high 25 points. He was 10-for-16 from the floor.
- Mayo scored 19 points. He finished with a team-high five assists, on just one turnover, while registering two steals. William Kyle III scored 17 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for his second consecutive double-double and third overall this season. Charlie Easley recorded 18 points on 6-for-9 shooting, while he picked up five steals and a block.
- Both teams shot nearly 52% from the field. SDSU was 10 of 20 from 3-point range while Oral Roberts went 9 of 26 (34.6%). The Golden Eagles committed 15 turnovers to the Jackrabbits’ eight, all of which came in the first half.
- Oral Roberts was led in scoring by McBride who had 24 points while playing all 40 minutes. Thompson also played all 40 minutes and registered 14. Bedford joined them in double digits with 12 points to go along with eight rebounds.
Up Next
The Jackrabbits hit the road for their next two contests. SDSU heads to Kansas City first to face the Roos at 7 p.m. on Thursday.