Nov. 13, 2015 Final Stats
Final Stats | Season Stats | Puerto Rico Tip-Off
TULSA, Okla. - Jalen Bradley scored a game-high 16 points, and his Oral Roberts squad forced 17 Missouri State turnovers to lead the Golden Eagles past the visiting Bears here Friday, 80-65, in the season opener for both clubs.
Missouri State was led by sophomore Chris Kendrix with 13 points with newcomer Jordan Martin adding 11 points, and senior Loomis Gerring contributing 10.
After storming back from an early 9-0 deficit, the Bears got within three on a 3-pointer by freshman Jarred Dixon midway through the half that made it an 18-15 game at the time. But five minutes later, the Golden Eagles made the run of the night and ended the first half on a 14-3 outburst to take a commanding 39-22 advantage into the locker room.
Bradley had 11 points in the first half, but few bigger than a trey at the 4:43 mark to spark the Golden Eagles' decisive run and erase the memory of a tip-in by Bears' freshman Obediah Church that got the Bears back within six at the time.
"Jalen Bradley just killed us," said Bears head coach Paul Lusk. "We didn't play team basketball early on, and we let them get some big runs. We will get better, and these guys want to get better."
Bradley was 4-of-6 from 3-point range and 6-of-12 overall to lead ORU, while Obi Emegano added 15 and Albert Owens finished with 14 tallies for the home side.
In the second half, ORU pushed its lead to 47-27 before the first media break - its largest lead of the night - before the Bears began making a dent. Missouri State shot an even 14-for-28 from the field during the second period and got within 12 on back-to-back scores by Martin with just over two minutes to play.
ORU finished 24-of-56 (.429) from the field and 24-of-32 (.750) at the foul line, making more free throws than the Bears attempted. The Golden Eagles were also 8-of-17 (.471) from bonus distance with just 9 turnovers.
Missouri State was 22-of-54 (.407) overall, 6-for-16 (.375) beyond the arc and 15-of-22 (.682) at the charity stripe. The Bears matched ORU on the glass, 37-37, and committed 17 turnovers, the most by the club since Jan. 28, 2015 at Illinois State.
Church led all players on the glass with 10 caroms and swatted 5 ORU shots to mark the most blocks by a Missouri State player since 2007.
A total of 46 personal fouls were called in the contest.
The Bears now head south to San Juan to take on No. 24 Butler in the first round of the first round of the Puerto Rico Tip-Off on Thursday afternoon at 12:30 p.m. The game will air nationally on ESPNU. Missouri State will also play games on Friday and Sunday at the event with pairings, stats and other information available at http://espnevents.com/puerto-rico-tip-off.
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