TULSA – The University of Denver men's basketball team men's couldn't shake a slow start on Thursday at Oral Roberts, falling 78-65 in the Mabee Center.

Joe Rosga finished with a team-high 15 points on 5-for-9 (55.6 percent) shooting, highlighted by knocking down five 3s in the contest.

Abiola Akintola finished with a career-high 10 points.

The Golden Eagles were led by a game-high 28 points from Kevin Obanor, who also pulled down 12 boards in the victory.

Key stat was the first half, with ORU outscoring DU 38-22.

The Golden Eagles had it going from deep, knocking down 13 3s in the contest.

Oral Roberts started the contest solid, jumping out to a 7-2 lead by the first media timeout. Ade Murkey was the lone Denver player to score in the opening four minutes of the contest.

The Golden Eagles pushed their lead to seven at 16-9 at the 12-minute mark with some stifling defense on the Pioneers.

DU, though, responded with a 7-2 run to cut the ORU lead to two after a jumper from Ronnie Harrell Jr. made it 18-16, giving the Denver native his first points of the evening.

A 3 from DeShang Weaver gave Oral Roberts its first double-digit lead of the day with just over five minutes remaining in the opening 20 minutes of action and the fourth made triple for the Golden Eagles.

The Golden Eagles kept up the pressure up, taking a 16-point advantage in the break, up 38-22.

Long-distance shooting plagued the Pioneers again, allowing seven made 3s in the first half.

Rosga was hot from deep in the first period of play, getting all nine of his points from beyond the arc.

Second half started with Denver being unable to gain ground on in the first eight minutes as both teams traded baskets.

 The Pioneers followed with a 15-9 run after that to cut the ORU lead to 14 after a floater from Jase Townsend at the 7:38 mark.

Denver continued to fight, closing to within eight points after a pair of free throws from Akintola with just over a minute left in regulation.

It would be the closest the Crimson and Gold would get the rest of the way, as Oral Roberts made its foul shots down the stretch to seal the double-digit win and get the season split.

UP NEXT
The Pioneers (7-17, 2-8 Summit League) wrap up the two-game road trip with a visit to Fargo, N.D. for a meeting with North Dakota State. Game is set for Saturday at 3 p.m. MT. and can be seen on ESPN3.

Register for Alumni Weekend
Denver men's basketball alumni weekend is set for 2019! The men's basketball Alumni Weekend tips off on Thursday night, February 28th as the Pioneers host Western Illinois at 7 p.m. On Friday, Alumni will take the floor at 5 p.m. followed our Senior Recognition Dinner at 7 p.m. with the finale to weekend – DU versus Omaha at 1 p.m. on Saturday. To register for Alumni Weekend – Contact Dwight Thorne II at Dwight.thorne@du.edu or call the basketball office at 303-871-4781. Information is also available at the marketing table in the north endzone of Magness Arena.
 
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