Tulsa, Okla.
-- The UMKC men's basketball team dropped an 89-54 road decision at Oral
Roberts on Thursday night at the Mabee
Center. The Golden Eagles broke the game open in the
first half with a 23-2 run and never looked back in the 35-point victory.
The early portion of the game went back-and-forth, as there
were three ties and 12 lead changes.
After a pair of Spencer Johnson free throws put UMKC up 17-16 with 13:40
remaining, the Golden Eagles reeled off a 23-2 run to build a 39-19 advantage.
The Kangaroos went nearly seven minutes without a field goal
during ORU's extended spurt before James Humphrey ended the drought with a
jumper with 7:45 left in the half, making the score 25-19. The Golden Eagles then scored 14 unanswered
points to build its advantage to 20 with 3:05 remaining in the opening 20
minutes.
UMKC showed some life with a 9-0 run behind a Bakari Lewis
three-pointer to go along with four points by Johnson to cut the deficit to 11
(39-28). ORU, however, tacked on a pair
of free throws right before the break to take a 41-28 lead into the
intermission.
The Golden Eagles pushed their lead to 15 points (45-30)
over the first three and a half minutes of the second half. The squad then built is lead to 22 points
(55-33) at the 11:37 mark.
The Kangaroos pulled to within 16 points on a pair of
occasions with around seven minutes remaining.
ORU, however, pushed its advantage back to 20 (70-50) at the 5:25 mark
before going on to the 35 point victory.
UMKC finished with a .365 (19-52) field goal percentage and
a .429 (6-14) mark from long range. The
Golden Eagles shot .556 (30-54) from the floor and .400 (4-10) from three-point
land. ORU also held the 35-26 advantage
on the glass.
Lewis led a group of three Kangaroo players in double
figures with 13 points. Johnson netted
11 points, while Latreze Mushatt added 10.
Four ORU players, meanwhile, finished the contest in double
digits. Kansas City, Mo., native Dominique Morrison led the
team with 18 points on a 6-of-9 effort from the floor.
UMKC (6-15, 2-6) will return to action on Saturday afternoon
at Centenary.
