TULSA, Okla. -- Saturday night marked the opening of the Summit League slate for the Omaha men's basketball team, which fell 93-74 to Oral Roberts at the Mabee Center.
 
Leaders for Omaha
Senior Daniel Norl paced the Mavericks with 23 points on 9-of-13 shooting alongside three rebounds, a career-high-tying seven assists and three steals. Junior Zach Jackson joined him in double figures with 15 points, a team-leading nine rebounds, an assist, a block and a steal. Senior Renard Suggs rounded it out with a career-high 14 points with four 3-pointers off the bench in just his second game of the year.
 
Senior Lamar Wofford-Humphrey added seven points, seven boards and a team-best three blocks, while freshman Matt Pile had four points, seven rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks.
 
Leaders for Oral Roberts
Emmanuel Nzekwesi recorded a double-double to lead ORU, finishing with 21 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and a steal while shooting 7-of-10. R.J. Fuqua (17), Sam Kearns (16) and Jontray Harris (12) also scored in double figures, and Fuqua pitched in a game-high eight assists. Javan White grabbed a game-best 12 boards and had another nine points.
 
Team Stats
ORU shot .478 (33-of-69) to Omaha's .382 (26-of-68) and hit at a .500 clip (11-of-22) from long range. The Golden Eagles also had the advantage on the glass, 47-38.
 
Inside the First Half
ORU built a 9-2 lead early in the game before a 6-0 Omaha run pulled the Mavericks within one. The Golden Eagle advantage then stretched to 14-8, but Omaha responded with 7-0 run when Jackson tossed in back-to-back layups and Suggs buried a three for a 15-14 edge. It proved to be the Mavericks' last lead, however, as a Kearns trey on the next possession sparked a 13-0 run. ORU outscored Omaha 17-5 over the final 4:18, going up 50-34 by the break.
 
Inside the Second Half
ORU led by double digits the rest of the way, as Omaha never brought it under 14. Norl scored 11 points in the second half, pulled down three boards and dished out four assists, while Jackson had six points and five rebounds.
 
Omaha is now 4-12 (0-1 Summit League) on the season, while the Golden Eagles improve to 5-11 (1-0).
 
Noting Tonight's Game
-Norl's scoring effort was his second 20-point performance of the season.
-Norl has tallied a career-best seven assists in back-to-back games.
-Omaha finished with a season-high six blocks as a team.
-Senior Daniel Meyer played his 100th career game tonight.
 
Up Next
Omaha plays its final non-conference matchup of the season and kicks off 2018 on Tuesday, Jan. 2, welcoming Doane College. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at Baxter Arena, and Gary Sharp will have the radio call on 1180 Zone 2. Links to live stats, audio and video will be available on OMavs.com.