TULSA, Okla. - Western Illinois and Oral Roberts were tied heading into the final seven minutes of regulation, but the Golden Eagles were able to fly out to a 10-point victory on their Homecoming Saturday (Feb. 11), 61-51, in front of 8,617 fans. ORU improves to 23-5 and 15-1 in leagues games with the win, while the Leathernecks suffer their third straight loss, and drop to 13-11 and 7-8 in conference contests.
Senior guard Ceola Clark III dropped a season-high 23 points on ORU including five triples, and surpassed 1,000 career points on the night. Senior guard Tommie Tyler (9), junior forward Terell Parks (8), freshman forward Obi Emegano (6) each added to the Leathernecks offensive effort. Parks also grabbed a team-high six rebounds, while Emegano dished out a team-best two assists.
Oral Roberts shot 45.5% in the game to Western's 41.5%, and shot 81.8% from the free throw line to the Leathernecks' 62.5%.
The Golden Eagles had four players finish in double figures, led by Dominique Morrison who recorded with 17 points.
The two teams sat knotted up at 8-8 midway through the first-half, but a pair of free throws from ORU's Steven Roundtree, followed by a triple courtesy of Rodrick Pearson put the Golden Eagles up 13-8 with nine minutes left in the first.
Clark to Parks for an electric alley-oop dunk corralled ORU's momentum momentarily, and cut Western's deficit back to three, 13-10.
After Oral Roberts increased its lead to 15-10, Emegano drilled his third three of the season, followed by Tyler connecting on a long jumper to tie things back up, this time at 15.
The Golden Eagles, however, finished the half on a 10-4 run and took a 25-19 lead into the intermission, its largest lead of the half.
The Leathernecks would open the second with a 7-2 run, then knot things up midway through the second, 37-37, thanks to four three-pointers (4-for-4) from Clark during the stretch.
Both teams sat at 42 with 6:37 left in regulation, and heading into the final four minutes Western found itself down two, 48-46. But that would be as close as the Leathernecks would get in the end, as ORU would go on to earn a 61-51 victory.
Western returns home to face the UMKC Kangaroos next Wednesday (Feb. 15) at 7 p.m. inside Western Hall.
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