Oscar Cluff's big day carries South Dakota State past Oral Roberts

BROOKINGS — Saturday’s Summit League battle between South Dakota State and Oral Roberts pitted two of the conference’s best and most exciting players against one another, and Isaac McBride of ORU and the Jackrabbits’ Oscar Cluff offered signature performances.

But it was Cluff and SDSU that came away victorious, with the Jackrabbits controlling the action most of the day in an 84-70 win in front of a matinee crowd of 3,681 at First Bank & Trust Arena.

It was SDSU’s second straight win after two straight losses, and Cluff’s very big fingerprints were all over it.

The 6-foot-11 Aussie scored 21 points on 11 shots while grabbing a career-high 20 rebounds and dishing a team-high four assists, continuing to establish himself as one of the premier bigs in the country.

“He gave us a great boost,” said freshman guard Owen Larson, who had 10 points and five rebounds. “Really brought the energy from the get-go, rebounded at a high level and when he does that it gets the rest of us going.”

The Jacks scored the first nine points of the game but ORU quickly fought back, using a 14-2 run to take a three-point lead which would be their biggest of the day. The teams mostly traded blows the rest of the first half before a strong finish allowed SDSU to take a 41-35 lead into the break. They quickly pushed the advantage into double digits early in the second, and ORU never got closer than eight after that.

Joe Sayler had 17 points for the Jacks (12-8, 3-2), while Matthew Mors and Kalen Garry had 11 apiece.

Meanwhile McBride was outstanding for the Golden Eagles (5-13, 1-4), scoring a game-high 26 points on 9-of-14 shooting, though Jacks coach Eric Henderson said his team defended him well enough.

“It was just a matter of time before he hit some shots,” Henderson said of the preseason conference player of the year. “I know he had 26 but I thought he earned all of ’em. He’s just a terrific player. He’s gonna get shots. You can’t take all of his stuff away. Our effort was pretty good.”

Matt Zimmer is a Sioux Falls native and longtime sports writer. He graduated from Washington High School where he played football, legion baseball and developed his lifelong love of the Minnesota Twins and Vikings. After graduating from St. Cloud State University, he returned to Sioux Falls, and began a long career in amateur baseball and sports reporting. Email Matt at mzimmer@siouxfallslive.com.