Box Score TULSA, Okla. -- The Omaha men's basketball team withstood a second-half battle Saturday evening, defeating Oral Roberts 85-79 at the Mabee Center. With the win, the Mavericks improve to 14-7 (6-1 Summit League) for sole possession of first place in the conference standings, while the Golden Eagles drop to 11-11 (3-5 Summit League).
Senior guard
Devin Patterson led the charge for Omaha, scoring a team-high 21 points with six rebounds, four assists and three steals. The Portsmouth, Va., native entered the game with 988 career points, and his last basket of the first half spurred him to his 1,000th point. Patterson is the 36th player in program history to reach the 1,000-point milestone.
Junior guard
Tra-Deon Hollins added 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting with a team-high seven boards, five assists and five steals. Sophomore forward
Tre'Shawn Thurman chipped in 16 points, five caroms, a block and a steal, and senior forward
Jake White rounded it out with 13 points and four rebounds.
Senior guard
Tim Smallwood, playing in his native Tulsa, also had seven points with a pair of 3-pointers for the night.
As a team, Omaha shot 51 percent (30-of-59) from the floor, 31 percent (5-of-16) from 3-point range and 69 percent (20-of-29) at the free throw line. Oral Roberts finished at 44 percent (28-of-63) from the field, 21 percent (4-of-19) from behind the arc and 86 percent (19-of-22) at the stripe. The Golden Eagles outrebounded the Mavericks, 39-33, and had the advantage for assists (12-9) and blocks (4-1), while UNO held the edge in steals (9-6) and turnovers forced (16-13).
Oral Roberts looked to Obi Emegano, the conference's leading scorer, who finished with game highs of 29 points and eight rebounds. Brandon Conley had 16 points, while Javan White and Jalen Bradley each added 10 points. White matched Emegano with eight rebounds as well.
The Mavericks used a 13-2 stretch to go up 15-7 early in the first half. After Oral Roberts got within three at 19-16, 3-pointers from Smallwood and freshman guard
Zach Jackson bookended two Thurman buckets for a 10-0 run that pushed the Mavericks ahead 29-16. The Golden Eagles then came back with a 10-1 run of their own, making it 30-26. After five straight points from Hollins, ORU rattled off six straight to cut the margin to three at 35-32. Oral Roberts never got within less than five to close the half, however, as the Mavericks led 46-37 by the intermission.
Aided by 19 second-half points from Emegano, Oral Roberts fought back in the second stanza. Omaha matched its largest lead of 13 at 68-55, and ORU eventually closed the gap with 7-0 run for a one-point game at 70-69. A 3-pointer from Bradley with 4:34 left put the Golden Eagles ahead 72-71, but a Patterson layup and two foul shots from Hollins helped UNO regain the lead. Emegano headed to the line six times over the last 1:08, making five shots, the last of which got ORU within two again with 39 seconds left. It proved to be ORU's last points of the night, as a Hollins jumper at 19 seconds and two more Patterson free throws at with seven seconds to go capped the 85-79 Omaha win.
Omaha returns to action next Thursday, Jan. 28, visiting South Dakota State to close the first half of league play. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at Frost Arena in Brookings, S.D., and the game will be broadcast live by Midco and ESPN3. Gary Sharp will also have the radio call on 1180 Zone 2, and links to live video, audio and stats will be available on OMavs.com.
