Dec. 15, 2014 Final Stats
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TULSA, Okla. - Loomis Gerring scored four of his team-high 15 points in just over a minute into the second half, including a 19-foot jumper that put Missouri State ahead 37-34. But the flood gates opened from there, and home standing Oral Roberts (4-4) reeled off 19 unanswered points over the next six minutes to help sink the Bears, 80-61, here Monday.
Marcus Marshall added 12 points for MSU (5-4), which committed eight turnovers in the second half, while Bobby Word contributed a game-high 16 off the bench for the Golden Eagles who improved to 3-0 at home this season.
ORU came into the contest averaging just 4.3 3-pointers per game, but Monday was a different story. Scott Sutton's team knocked down 10-of-23 (.435) shots from beyond the arc, including a game-tying bomb by Aaron Young that knotted the game at 37 and start Oral Roberts' decisive run.
Camyn Boone broke the dry spell with a hook shot with 12:15 to go, and Gavin Thurman later helped MSU's efforts with a baseline jumper with 11:38 remaining to make it a 53-41 game at the time. But the Golden Eagles responded with a vengeance, this time dropping four 3-pointers on the Bears over a two-minute span as part of a 16-0 outburst.
When the dust cleared after Word's fourth trey of the night, ORU had built a 69-41 lead with just over nine minutes to play.
Shawn Roundtree, Jr., and Marcus Marshall drained back-to-back 3-pointers for MSU to stop the bleeding and end the home team's second substantial run of the half. But the Bears would get no closer than 19 the rest of the way.
Two nights after shooting 63.2 percent from 3-point range in their win at Southeast Missouri, the Bears made just 4-of-17 (.235) from beyond the arc and were out-rebounded 35-31. MSU was just 8-of-26 from the field in the decisive second half to finish at 39.3 percent for the game.
MSU collected a team-high 6 rebounds from Tyler McCullough, who was celebrating his 20th birthday, while Oklahoma native Dorrian Williams dished out a game-high 6 assists in the loss.
ORU was 28-for-57 (.491) from the field and converted 14-of-18 (.778) at the line with 14 second-chance points and 30 points in the paint. The Golden Eagles also got 15 points from Adrion Webber in reserve and 12 apiece from starters Young, Denell Henderson and Obi Emegano. Henderson also snagged a game-high 8 rebounds for the home side.
In the first half, the Bears led 33-32 at the break with Gerring scoring 11 and Marshall converting 9 in the opening stanza. There were six lead changes, but no more pivotal than a 6-0 run by the visitors in the final 90 seconds with McCullough knocking down a 17-footer to tie the game before Gerring and Williams scored on transition layups to push the Bears up 33-29.
Oral Roberts banked in a long 3-pointer at the buzzer to make it a one-point game at the intermission, their second banked-in trey of the period.
Missouri State led by as many as five before the first media timeout, but runs of 7-0 and 6-1 by the home squad propelled ORU to leads of 11-9 and later 22-18 before the Bears regained control in the final five minutes of the period.
The Bears continue their Tulsa tour on Wednesday as they head to the University of Tulsa (5-4) for a 7 p.m., tipoff from the Reynolds Center to wrap their three-game road swing.
MSU then returns to JQH Arena on Saturday for a 2:05 p.m., game against Eastern Michigan (8-1). Tickets for the EMU game are available at MissouriStateBears.com or by calling the MSU Athletics Box Office at JQH Arena during regular box office hours at (417) 836-7678.
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