TULSA (Interstat) — Tulsa used a decisive second-half opening run and pulled away from Oral Roberts for an 80-71 men’s NCAA Division I basketball victory Wednesday at Donald Reynolds Center. Attendance was 4,066. The Golden Hurricane improved to 3-0, while the Golden Eagles fell to 1-2. The game was played at Donald Reynolds Center in Tulsa, Okla.

Oral Roberts led 39-37 at halftime after Connor Dow made a 3-pointer with 47.8 seconds remaining in the first half. The first half featured several lead changes and runs. Chris Loofe opened the scoring with a dunk for Tulsa, and Boden Williams answered with a driving layup for Oral Roberts. Kobi Williams made consecutive layups to keep Tulsa close, while Boden Williams made a 3-pointer to give Oral Roberts a 6-4 lead. Myles Rigsby tied the score at 9 with a 3-pointer, and Thomas Zorbas made a floating jump shot and Cal Furnish made a 3-pointer as Oral Roberts moved ahead. Amire Robinson made two free throws to push the Golden Eagles’ lead to 16-9. Denton Forsythe made a 3-pointer for Tulsa, but Oral Roberts answered with a Connor Dow layup and free throws from Thomas Zorbas. Oral Roberts built a 27-16 lead on a Boden Williams 3-pointer and a Luke Gray 3-pointer. Tulsa responded with an 8-0 run that included free throws from Macon Emory and a jumper by Jaylen Lawal. Boden Williams made a fastbreak jumper and a pullup jumper, and another 3-pointer gave Oral Roberts a 34-22 lead. Tulsa closed the half with a 15-5 run. Chris Loofe made two free throws, Denton Forsythe made a 3-pointer and a layup with a free throw, and Myles Rigsby made a driving layup and free throw to give Tulsa a 37-36 lead. Connor Dow made a 3-pointer just before the break to put Oral Roberts ahead 39-37.

Tulsa took control at the start of the second half. Macon Emory made a dunk, Jaylen Lawal made a layup, Myles Rigsby made a dunk and Lawal made a 3-pointer as the Golden Hurricane scored the first nine points of the half for a 46-39 lead with 17:20 remaining. Oral Roberts did not score again until Cal Furnish made a layup with 16:23 left. Luke Gray made two free throws, and Chris Loofe answered with a dunk for Tulsa. Boden Williams made a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 48-46, and after Jaylen Lawal made two free throws, Denton Forsythe made two free throws to push Tulsa’s lead to 52-46. Oral Roberts stayed within striking distance. Connor Dow made a layup, Thomas Zorbas made two free throws, and Luke Gray made a 3-pointer and a dunk. But Jaylen Lawal made two 3-pointers, Chris Loofe made two dunks, and Macon Emory made a layup as Tulsa extended its lead to 66-59. Denton Forsythe made a 3-pointer, and Jaylen Lawal made two free throws to make it 71-59. Oral Roberts cut the lead late. Luke Gray made a layup and free throw, Martins Kilups made two free throws, and Cal Furnish made a layup and free throw. Boden Williams made a 3-pointer with 1:01 remaining to pull Oral Roberts within 76-71. The Golden Eagles remained within five points in the final minute but could not close the gap. Chris Loofe made a layup with 32.3 seconds left, and Denton Forsythe made two free throws with 3.9 seconds remaining to seal the win.

Denton Forsythe was Tulsa’s top performer with 18 points, six rebounds and five assists in 22 minutes. Chris Loofe added 17 points, 11 rebounds, one assist and one block in 32 minutes. Boden Williams led Oral Roberts with 22 points, three rebounds and one assist in 36 minutes. Macon Emory had 11 points, nine rebounds and two assists in 26 minutes. Myles Rigsby finished with eight points, eight rebounds, two assists and one block in 33 minutes. Cal Furnish had 10 points, six rebounds and five assists in 36 minutes. Thomas Zorbas contributed 10 points and four rebounds in 15 minutes. Jaylen Lawal scored 18 points with one rebound and one assist in 28 minutes. Luke Gray had 17 points, two rebounds and one assist in 28 minutes. Kobi Williams added six points, two rebounds, four assists and one block in 28 minutes.

Oral Roberts scored 71 points from 69 possessions and had an offensive rating of 102.2. Tulsa scored 80 points from 68 possessions and had an offensive rating of 117.1. Oral Roberts shot 23 of 64 from the floor, 10 of 32 from 3-point range and 15 of 22 from the free throw line. Tulsa shot 25 of 55 from the floor, 7 of 28 from 3-point range and 23 of 28 from the free throw line. Both teams had 16 offensive rebounds. Oral Roberts had 13 assists, two blocks, 11 turnovers and 23 fouls. Tulsa had eight assists, four blocks, 16 turnovers and 17 fouls. Oral Roberts scored 22 points in the paint, 18 points off turnovers and 13 fastbreak points. Tulsa scored 32 points in the paint, 20 points off turnovers and 26 fastbreak points.

Oral Roberts entered the game after a 94-39 home win over Northwestern Oklahoma State and an 85-55 loss at Central Arkansas. Tulsa had beaten Northern Illinois 94-75 and Ottawa (KS) 98-50. Oral Roberts was seeking its second win of the season, while Tulsa remained unbeaten after winning its first two games by 19 and 48 points.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Tulsa 83, Oral Roberts 71. Interstat’s ELO system had projected Tulsa with a 98.5 percent probability to win. Tulsa had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus-18.5. The total score of 151 went over the over/under line of 155.5.