Bittle Returns in Win at Oral Roberts

Thursday, January 21

Tulsa, Okla.

7 p.m.

South Dakota State University

15-5, 4-2SL

Oral Roberts

11-10, 3-4SL

South Dakota State

Oral Roberts

Bittle Leads Jacks to Season-Opening Win

1/21/2016 10:46:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: SDSU Sports Info

TULSA, Okla. – Oklahoma native, and Jackrabbit senior, Jake Bittle returned to the lineup on Thursday after missing the last seven games to help lead South Dakota State to an 86-74 win over Oral Roberts, the Jacks second straight win over the Golden Eagles at the Mabee Center.

The wins snaps ORU's three game winning streak and boosts the Jacks to 15-5 overall, and to 4-2 in The Summit League, while the Golden Eagles fall to 11-10 overall and to 3-4 in league play.

Tied at 7-all with just under 15 minutes left in the first half, Ian Theisen put the Jacks up 10-7 with his first of two first half 3-pointers, and SDSU would never trail again.

The Jacks led 33-25 at halftime, and then came out hot in the second half, extending a first half run into the second half at 15-5 to open up a 46-30 lead on a Mike Daum and-1 with 16:48 remaining.

Up 57-38 after a Daum jumper a few minutes later, ORU fought back to cut the lead to 63-54 midway through the half, but the Jacks quickly got it back to double figures and led by as many as 20 down the stretch.

All 11 Jackrabbits to play in the game scored, with George Marshall's 18 points leading the way. He also tied a season-high with four 3-pointers. Daum added 15 points and 7 rebounds off the bench, with Keaton Moffitt pitching in with 11, also off the bench, as SDSU finished with a 40-28 edge in bench points.

The Jacks also got eight points from Bittle, Theisen, Deondre Parks and Tevin King.

Obi Emegano led the Golden Eagles with 20 points, with Kris Martin adding 17 and Javan White 16 points in the loss.

SDSU closes its three game road swing on Saturday, when they travel to Vermillion to take on South Dakota in the first of two games in the South Dakota Corn Showdown Series. The Jackrabbits and Coyotes tip at 4 p.m., in the final meeting in the DakotaDome.

NOTES: Oral Roberts leads the all-time series 8-7, with a 5-2 edge in the Mabee Center … the teams played in front of a crowd of 3,361 … the win gives Scott Nagy 399 for his career ... SDSU committed fewer than 10 turnovers (9) for the fifth time this season and for the third straight game ... SDSU improves to 13-2 when leading at the half and when finishing with more rebounds, to 7-0 when shooting better than 50 percent from the floor and to 9-0 when scoring between 70-89 points