Jacks fall just short at Oral Roberts

Saturday, January 30

Tulsa, Okla.

7:05 p.m.

South Dakota State University

Oral Roberts

Jackrabbits Sweep Season Series with Idaho

1/30/2010 11:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball

By: SDSU Sports Info

South Dakota State led by as many as eight points in the first half of Saturday's game at Oral Roberts, but the Golden Eagles came back to beat the Jackrabbits 68-63 in front of 4,352 fans at the Mabee Center in snowy Tulsa, Okla.

"We made a lot of mistakes in the first half, we had the chance to really push it out, I think we were up by eight, and that's the same thing back home when we played Oakland, and that's something we have to fix," said SDSU junior guard Dale Moss. "When we have a team like this down, we have to really capitalize on the opportunity."

ORU improves to 13-10 overall and 8-3 in The Summit League with the win. The Jacks fall to an even 11-11 on the season, 7-4 in league play, but not for lack of effort.

"The one thing we did tonight was competed," said SDSU head coach Scott Nagy after the game. "Even when we were down by 10 late, it would have been easy to fold up the tents and go home, but our kids didn't. Then they're down one late with a chance to take the lead at the basket, you can't ask for any more than that."

Trailing 57-47 with exactly 10 minutes to play, the Jacks fought back to within one at 64-63 with just over a minute to go on a pair of Moss free throws. SDSU got the ball back after a couple of missed foul shots with 45 seconds to go, but a Nate Wolters layup rimmed out and ORU got the rebound and forced the Jackrabbits to foul.

The Golden Eagles went 4-for-6 from the line down the stretch to secure the win, which puts them one game ahead of the Jacks in the league standings with seven games to play, including five of those seven games in Frost Arena.

"I'm sure that when we go back to look at the film that we'll see a million mistakes," added Nagy. "But the main thing is that we competed."

The loss spoils a stellar night by Clint Sargent, who led the Jacks and tied for game-high honors with 21 points, thanks in large part to a 6-of-12 night from beyond the three-point arc. Just two days after setting a career-high with 17 points in a win over Centenary, Wolters equaled that mark on Saturday and added four assists. Kai Williams added 15 points before fouling out for the first time this season.

Dominique Morrison led a trio of Golden Eagles in double figures with 21 points. Michael Craion added 16 points and a game-high nine rebounds, while Warren Niles scored 12 points in the win.

The Jacks turned the ball over just eight times, but the big difference came at the free-throw line. ORU went 19-for-30 at the charity stripe, compared to an 8-for-13 night for the Jackrabbits.

SDSU returns home to start a season-long three game homestand next week, when the Jackrabbits host Southern Utah on Thursday on Military Appreciation night and UMKC on Saturday in the Pork Classic.

Southern Utah defeated UMKC 69-56 on Saturday to improve to 6-15 overall, 2-8 in league play. The Kangaroos fall to 9-12 overall and 3-7 in league play.