It’s a perfect start for Missouri St. The Bears improved to 5-0 on Wednesday, with an 88-76 win over Oral Roberts in Tulsa Wednesday evening. Things weren’t perfect for MSU early on, as they allowed the Golden Eagles to take a nine-point lead at one point during the first half. ORU’s Larry Owens scored 20 points in the first half to help the Golden Eagles take a 41-37 lead at the half.
In the second half, Tyler Chaney hit a three-pointer with 16:28 to go in the game to give the Bears a 49-46 lead. After that, MSU put the game on cruise control and eventually led by as many as 20 points in the second half. Owens was held to just two points over the final 20 minutes.
Chaney finished with a game-high 23 points, as five Bears scored in double figures. Deke Thompson had 16, Sky Frazier scored 13, Dale Lamberth had 11 and Kellen Easley scored 10 points to go with his 12 rebounds. Nathan Bilyeu had perhaps the most well-rounded game for MSU—he had nine points, nine rebounds, five assists and two steals.
It was homecoming for Barry Hinson, who was the head coach at ORU until coming to Springfield in 1999.
