JACKS STAVE OFF GOLDEN EAGLES

Saturday, January 18

Brookings, S.D.

4:15 p.m.

South Dakota State University

12-8,3-2Summit League

Oral Roberts

5-13,1-4Summit League

Oral Roberts

South Dakota St.

Photo by: Evan Patzwald

1/18/2025 9:09:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Andrew Pedersen

BROOKINGS, S.D. – All five of South Dakota State's starters scored in double digits, which included a noteworthy performance by Oscar Cluff, as the Jackrabbits defeated Oral Roberts 84-70 on Saturday in First Bank & Trust Arena.

SDSU scored the contest's first nine points before Oral Roberts jumped ahead, 14-11, behind a 14-2 run at the 13:54 mark of the opening half. The two teams kept the margin within a single possession through a majority of the half.

Four consecutive points from Damon Wilkinson, along with a Matthew Mors layup, gave the Jacks a bit of separation heading into halftime. The Jackrabbits led 41-35 going into the break.

South Dakota State slowly built on its advantage in the second half. A Stoney Hadnot layup gave the Jackrabbits their largest lead of the meeting at 57-42 with 14:12 to play.

Oral Roberts cut the deficit to eight on multiple occasions as the second half clock winded away. The Jackrabbits never let the Golden Eagles draw any closer as the Yellow and Blue sealed another home victory.

South Dakota State improved to 12-8 overall and 3-2 in Summit League competition. Oral Roberts fell to 5-13 (1-4).

The Jackrabbits' starting lineup led the squad in scoring. That group consisted of Oscar Cluff (21), Joe Sayler (17), Kalen Garry (11), Mors (11) and Owen Larson (10).

Cluff had a career-high 20 rebounds to go along with his 21 points. The rebound mark made him just the fifth individual in program history ever to eclipse the 20-rebound plateau. Cluff is just the second player in SDSU's DI era to have a 20-point and 20-rebound effort. Mike Daum achieved the feat three times during the conference slate of the 2018-19 season.

The Australian native also is the fourth Division I men's basketball player to have a 20-20 stat line this season.

Cluff, along with Sayler, had a game-high four assists. Garry and Wilkinson each had two steals for the Jackrabbits.

Oral Roberts was led by Issac McBride's 26 points. Jalen Miller and JoJo Moore had 15 points apiece, while Moore had a team-high seven rebounds.

NOTES

South Dakota State outshot Oral Roberts 48-37% from the field. SDSU was 16 of 19 (84.2%) at the charity stripe while the Golden Eagles were 15 of 20. The Jacks finished the contest with a 44-32 rebounding edge.
The Jackrabbits held the lead for 34:11 of the contest. Oral Roberts led for 4:05.
The victory improved South Dakota State to 9-0 at home this season. Oral Roberts dropped to 0-10 on the road.
SDSU had its largest attended game in First Bank & Trust Arena of the season with a crowd of 3,681.

UP NEXT
South Dakota State travels to Kansas City to take on the Roos on Thursday evening. The Jackrabbits then return home to host South Dakota in an Interstate Series matchup, presented by First Interstate Bank, at 5 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 25.

-GoJacks.com-