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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Warren Niles came off the bench to score 20 points and Damen Bell-Holter added a career-high 18 as Oral Roberts beat Utah 78-70 on Saturday night.
Dominique Morrison had 17 points and a career-high seven assists for the Golden Eagles (2-3), who led by 16 late in the first half but had to hold on for the win.
Will Clyburn led the Utes (3-2) with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Josh Watkins added 18 points.
Bell-Holter made a long 3-pointer with no time on the shot clock and 40 seconds left in the game to give Oral Roberts a 75-68 lead. It was his third 3-pointer of the game. He had made just two in the previous 36 games of his career.
Niles matched his own career-best with five three-pointers as the Golden Eagles bench outscored the Utes reserves 28-12.
Oral Roberts dominated most of the first half. Steven Roundtree's fade-away jumper gave the Golden Eagles a 16-point lead with 2:30 left before intermission.
The Utes had committed 13 turnovers at that point but scored the half's final nine points to cut the lead to 34-27.
Chris Kupets completed Utah's comeback by scoring five points and assisting on two Clyburn 3-pointers to spark a 16-6 Utes run. A jumper by Kupets at the end of the run gave the Utes a 52-50 lead with 10:45 to play.
The Golden Eagles' Tim Morton squelched the rally by scoring his only four points of the game on back-to-back possessions.
First Morton made a layup to tie it at 52 and then he tipped in a missed jumper by Hunter McClintock to give Oral Roberts the lead back for good.
The Utes' David Foster tipped in a miss by Watkins to pull Utah within 70-67 with 1:56 to play, but Morrison drove for a layup and Bell-Holter followed a free throw by Watkins with his final 3-pointer to seal the win.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
