A slow start doomed ORU as the Golden Eagles fell to South Dakota State 65-84 Saturday in Brookings, South Dakota.

ORU’s Emmanuel Nzekwesi had 14 points, three blocks and a career high 18 rebounds. 

 Two-time Summit League Player of the Year Mike Daum scored 37 points and had eight rebounds to lead the Jackrabbits.

“Our inability to play well in the first half put us in a pretty big deficit,” said ORU coach Paul Mills. “I thought we settled in, but some of our younger guys were content with shooting jump shots.

“We relied on the three-ball too much early and it made it hard on our interior. We can do other things like get to the paint and get the ball to others, but because we were settling we fell behind early.”

ORU hosts South Dakota State at 7 p.m. January 17 and then travels to Denver for a 5 p.m. game Sunday.