Derrick Taylor scored 26 points and grabbed nine rebounds as Oral Roberts defeated Southern Utah 86-69 on Monday.
Rocky Walls, who grabbed 16 rebounds, and Tim Gill each added 18 points for Oral Roberts (18-11, 12-4 Mid-Continent).Both teams started out slowly before Oral Roberts scored 13 unanswered points to take a 20-7 lead with 11:55 to play in the first half.
The Thunderbirds (7-19, 4-8) pulled within 28-18 with 7:38 left in the first half after a technical foul was called on ORU coach Barry Hinson.
Oral Roberts then outscored Utah 10-7 in the final six minutes to lead 41-27 at halftime.
The Golden Eagles led by as many as 17 points in the second half. But Southern Utah went on a 20-6 run to get within 61-55 with about 8 minutes to go before Oral Roberts pulled away down the stretch.
Jeff Monaco led Southern Utah with 21 points. Jason Essex had 17 points, Tarvish Felton scored 13 points, and Kenyatta Clyde finished with 12.