BROOKINGS – Mike Daum and Chris Howell helped the Jackrabbits overcome a 15-point second-half deficit as South Dakota State beat Oral Roberts 74-67 in a Summit League men’s basketball game Saturday evening.
Daum dropped in 24 of his game-high 38 points after halftime and grabbed 17 rebounds.
Chris Howell scored 17 of his 20 points in the second half, going 14-of-19 at the foul line for the game, and added 12 rebounds to also post a double-double.
The Jackrabbits raced out to a 14-6 lead but trailed 33-23 at halftime. The Golden Eagles pushed the margin to 15 points – 52-37 – with 13 minutes remaining in the game.
SDSU began to chip away after that, eventually seizing a 62-61 advantage with 4:15 to go after Howell scored in the paint and Daum added a pair of foul shots and turned an offensive rebound into a traditional three-point play.
Howell went 8-for-8 and Daum 2-for-2 from the stripe the remainder of the game. Tevin King’s floater in the lane made it 70-65 with 1:21 left.
“We’ve talked about it the last couple of weeks, some of the things that have happened to this team with A.J. Hess with his elbow and Ian Theisen with his ankle (injuries),” said SDSU head coach T.J. Otzelberger. “And then even tonight, 3 or 4 minutes into that second half we had Reed Tellinghuisen and Lane Severyn – both starters – with four fouls. And I think you learn about people in times of adversity and when things aren’t going that well. We started league play 1-5. Our guys didn’t get discouraged, and what I’ve seen from our players is 1-14, we have a tremendous amount of character, we have a lot of fight, a lot of compete, and guys that are about winning and the right things. So it’s an honor to coach this group, and I’m excited to get back to the practice floor Monday and see what we can continue to achieve as a group.”
The Jackrabbits shot 50 percent (14-of-28) from the field and went 19-of-22 at the line during their 51-point second half.
For Oral Roberts (7-18, 3-8) Albert Owens scored 19 points and Jalen Bradley 18. Emmanuel Nzekwesi tallied a double-double of 16 points and 11 boards.
South Dakota State (12-14, 5-6), which is in sixth place in the conference standings, plays at North Dakota State on Wednesday at 8 p.m. in Fargo.
Notes (From SDSU Sports Information): Daum now has 616 points for the season, setting a new school record for points by a sophomore. The previous record was set in 2010-11 when Nate Wolters scored 604. ... In 10 Saturday games this year, Daum has 306 points (30.6 per game) and 99 rebounds (9.9 per game).
