TULSA — Oral Roberts guard Warren Niles swiped the ball at midcourt coasted to the rim to polish off the blowout he started in the first half.
Rising above the rim, Niles flushed home a two-handed dunk to stretch the Golden Eagles’ lead to 29 points over UALR, whose stilted offense and disjointed defense left behind the poise and toughness it showed in back-to-back home victories.
Over a seven-minute stretch in the first half, Oral Roberts went on a 19-4 run to overcome an early five-point deficit and seize control in an 86-60 drubbing of the Trojans in front of an announced crowd of 3,402 at the Mabee Center on Wednesday.
Niles, a 6-4 sophomore, came off the bench to kickstart the rout when he made a threepointer off the left wing to put Oral Roberts (1-3) ahead for good 10-9 with 14:50 left in the first half. Forward Damen Bell-Horter would finish the spurt with a reverse lay up at 8:40 to stretch the lead to 23-13.
Yet, it was Niles, who finished with a game-high 25 points on 8-of-14 shooting, who was the leader for the Golden Eagles, who shot a season-high 57.1 percent from the floor and62.5 percent on three-pointers.
Oral Roberts entered averaging barely 66 points per game and shooting a 39.7 percent from the floor for the season.
UALR’s halfcourt offense could never hit at a consistent pace, enduring two four-minute stretches without a field goal. The Trojans shot 35.2 percent from the floor after hitting three of their first four shots.
UALR (3-2) had mixed results on the boards, getting outrebounded 38-29 but winning the battle on the offensive glass. Yet, the Trojans were only able to turn those into nine secondchance points.
Guard Soloman Bozeman scored 20 points on 4-of-7 shooting, but the rest of the lineup struggled to produce. Forward Marlo Louzeiro continued to provide some consistency in the frontcourt, scoring eight points. But he was held without a field goal for nearly 25 minutes after scoring four of UALR’s first nine points.
UALR also struggled slow the Oral Roberts frontline, which scored 32 points in the lane. Forward Dominique Morrison, who scored 17 points and pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds, led the effort and capped a disastrous half for the Trojans when he made threepointer from the left corner ona feed from Niles to help make it 42-27 at halftime.
Fellow forward Steven Roundtree, a 6-8 freshman, added 13 points and six rebounds, while center Damen Bell-Horter had 10 points and seven rebounds.
The Trojans managed to hold the margin level early in the second half, pulling within 51-38 on two Bozeman free throws at the 15:06 mark. They would get no closer.
The Trojans return to the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock on Friday for a 2 p.m. game against Louisiana Tech.
UALR (3-2) Louzeiro 4-8 0-1 8, Kibi 0-2 4-7 4, Williams 2-5 1-1 5, Garcia-Mendoza 3-5 0-0 7, Bozeman 4-7 9-10 20, Sutherland 0-0 1-2 1, Sonnier 0-3 0-0 0, Jackson 2-4 1-2 5, Guy 3-9 0-0 7, Mouzy 1-6 0-0 3, Bails 0-3 0-2 0, Thornton 0-0 0-0 0, Leeper 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 19-54 16-25 60.
ORAL ROBERTS (1-3) Roundtree 4-7 5-9 13, Morrison 6-8 3-4 17, Bell-Holter 3-6 4-7 10, Pearson 1-4 1-2 4, McClintock 3-4 0-0 8, Aery 0-0 0-0 0, Morton 1-2 0-0 2, Holdman 1-3 0-0 2, Niles 8-14 5-6 25, Desir 0-0 2-2 2, Nasarre 1-1 0-0 3. Totals 28-49 20-30 86.
Halftime-Oral Roberts 42-27. 3-Point Goals-UALR 6-14 (Bozeman 3-3, Garcia-Mendoza 1-2, Guy 1-3, Mouzy 1-4, Williams 0-1, Sonnier 0-1), Oral Roberts 10-16 (Niles 4-7, Morrison 2-2, McClintock 2-3, Nasarre 1-1, Pearson 1-3). Fouled Out-None. Rebounds- UALR 29 (Bails 5), Oral Roberts 38 (Morrison 10). Assists-UALR 8 (Williams 4), Oral Roberts 16 (Pearson 5). Total Fouls-UALR 24, Oral Roberts 19. Technicals-Pearson, Roundtree. Attendance-3,402.
SUN BELT WOMEN ARKANSAS STATE 59, TEXAS-ARLINGTON 55, OT
ARLINGTON, Texas - Quinishia McDowell had 19 points and seven rebounds to lead Arkansas State to a victory in overtime at Texas-Arlington.
The Red Wolves (4-2) led 27-22 at halftime, but the game was tied at 51-51 at the end of regulation.
Tamara Simmons scored a game-high 20 points to lead the Mavericks (1-4).
Sports, Pages 29 on 11/25/2010