Oral Roberts 76, W. Illinois 71

2/14/2008 11:31 PM

MACOMB, Ill. (AP) -Moses Ehambe scored 40 points and Oral Roberts was able to hold off a late rally by Western Illinois for a 76-71 Summit League victory Thursday night.

Ehambe hit 9-of-13 3-pointers for the Golden Eagles (18-5, 13-0), who got a scare when David Jackson converted a three-point play to bring the Leathernecks (11-14, 6-8 Summit League) within one point at 72-71 with 28 seconds left.

After Oral Roberts sank a pair of free throws on the other end, the Golden Eagles were able to force a Western Illinois turnover to preserve the lead and the win.

Oral Roberts led by as many as 10 points with 8:58 remaining in the first half. The Leathernecks got consecutive layups from David DuBois to make it 21-18, and two free throws from Jackson and a 3-pointer from Chris Gonzalez gave Western its first lead of the game at 24-23.

Western Illinois went up by eight on a pair of free throws by James Washington but Ehambe hit another trey and a free throw to pull the Golden Eagles within four, 35-31 at intermission.

Western Illinois missed seven of its first eight shots in the second half, allowing Oral Roberts to tie the game at 35-35, then take a three-point lead during a 9-0 run.

A layup from Jerryck Owens-Murray brought the Leathernecks back to within one at 40-39, but Oral Roberts would build its lead to as much as 12.

Western Illinois was able to chip away at Oral Roberts' advantage and turn it into a single-possession game when Jackson's 3-pointer brought the score to 66-64 with under two minutes to play.

Ehambe answered with a three for Oral Roberts to stretch their lead to five before Jackson tried to save the game for the Leathernecks.

Jackson finished with 27 points and Washington had 14.