Oral Roberts Knocks Off Western Illinois

The Oral Roberts Golden Eagles picked up their 10th conference win Saturday, topping Western Illinois 84-69, propelled by a yet another big performance by star Kevi Luper.

The junior from Adair scored 31 points in the win, along with grabbing six rebounds, dishing out five assists and four steals.

The game was close for most of the first half, with the Golden Eagles leading by just one point with 2:20 left to play. However, ORU scored the final seven points of the half, including a buzzer-beating jumper by Jaci Bingham, to take a 36-28 lead into the locker room.

That lead held for the majority of the second half as well, with Oral Roberts leading 87-49 with 9:39 left to play. But that's when Oral Roberts poured it on yet again, scoring eight consecutive – including four from Luper – to take a 65-49 lead just two minutes later and cruised to a win.

Bernadett Balla chipped in 16 points for the Golden Eagles, while Dominique Allen contributed 10 points on a five-of-nine shooting performance.

Sadie Webb set the pace for Western Illinois, scoring 19 points from the floor, with Saule Kontautaite adding 16 points and seven boards in the loss.

The Golden Eagles will take two days off before playing their final home game against IUPUI at 7:05 p.m. Monday.