OMAHA, Neb. -- Marlon Ruffin scored a team-leading 21 points Sunday afternoon as the Omaha men's basketball team closed its first home weekend, falling 86-75 to Oral Roberts at Baxter Arena.
Leaders for Omaha
Ruffin led a contingent of five double-figure scorers for Omaha, tallying his 21 points on 9-of-18 shooting alongside five rebounds, two assists and a steal.
La'Mel Robinson had a season-best effort with 16 points on 5-of-8 shooting while grabbing a season-high seven rebounds and adding a pair of steals.
Wanjang Tut chipped in 14 points and four boards.
Matt Pile just missed a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds, and
Sam'i Roe added another 10 points for the day with five caroms.
Leaders for Oral Roberts
Max Abmas and Kevin Obanor led the Golden Eagles for the second straight game, combining for 64 points. Abmas hit 13-of-20 -- including 7-of-11 from beyond the arc -- for 37 points. Obanor had a double-double on 27 points and 12 rebounds.
RJ Glasper added another 10 points for ORU, going 6-of-6 at the free throw line.
Team Stats
Omaha shot at a 43% (31-of-73) clip with just one 3-pointer for the day. Oral Roberts shot 49% (28-of-57) and hit 12 threes while finishing at 86% (18-of-21) at the stripe.
The Mavericks had a 40-35 rebounding advantage, including 15-6 on the offensive glass.
Inside the First Half
Abmas had 22 points in the opening 20 minutes, hitting 8-of-11 with four triples. Obanor added another 10 points and eight rebounds.
Robinson had nine of his points in the first half, and Ruffin had eight more.
Omaha jumped out to a quick 9-2 edge with the help of five early points from Ruffin and held the lead until the eight-minute mark.
The Mavericks led by as many as eight with 10:37 to the break. Omaha trailed 39-37 after ORU made its final four shots to close out the half.
Inside the Second Half
After trading leads to start, the Mavericks used a 7-0 run to go up 49-43. But ORU came back to knot the game at 52-52, and a barrage of six threes over a five-minute span gave the Golden Eagles a 73-61 lead. ORU hit 10 consecutive shots during that span.
Omaha managed to cut it to 75-72 on a Robinson bucket with 3:29 to play, but ORU capitalized on three late turnovers to take the second game of the weekend series.
Ruffin poured in 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting in the second stanza, and Tut had another eight points.
Omaha is now 2-10 (0-2 Summit League) on the year, while the Golden Eagles improve to 5-5 (2-0 Summit League).
Up Next
Omaha hits the road for North Dakota State, Jan. 8-9, with tipoff set for 7:30 p.m. both nights at the Scheels Center in Fargo, N.D. The game will be televised live on Midco, and Gary Sharp will have the radio call on 1180 Zone 2. Links to live video, audio and stats will be available on OMavs.com.
