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Rice Defense Gobbled Up By Oral Roberts

Las Vegas, NV (Sports Network) – Dominique Morrison hit the game-winning jumper with 2.5 seconds left as Oral Roberts edged Rice, 80-78, in the Las Vegas Holiday Hoops Classic.

Morrison finished with 18 points, five rebounds and four assists for the Golden Eagles (5-8), who snapped a four game losing streak. Damen Bell-Holter posted 20 points and grabbed seven rebounds, while Warren Niles and Steven Roundtree scored 16 and 15 points, respectively.

Tamir Jackson netted a game-best 25 points on 8-of-11 shooting for Rice (6-6), which has dropped two in a row. Arsalan Kazemi notched a double-double with 20 points and 11 boards.

With three minutes left in the game, Trey Stanton hit two free throws to knot the game at 72-72. That ended a 12-4 run by Rice where Kazemi scored eight points.

Oral Roberts answered back with four straight free-throws to push the lead to 76-72. The teams weretied again at 76 with 65 seconds left after Jackson made two free throws.

Bell-Holter hit a jumper to give the Eagles a 78-76 edge with less than a minute to play. But during the ensuing possession, Connor Frizzelle squared the score away with a jumper just before Morrison hit the game winner with seconds remaining.

Oral Roberts started the game by making its first four shots for a 9-3 lead. Roundtree led the burst with two layups.

The margin grew to nine midway through the first half after Morrison made a three and Roundtree hit jumper to make it 22-13.

Jackson’s three-point play started an 11-7 run for Rice. Kazemi’s tip-in finished the stretch with 6 1/2 minutes left.

Bell-Holter hit a long three-pointer with time running out to give the Golden Eagles a 47-38 lead at the half.

Images by eflon used in background images under a Creative Commons license. Thank you.