Eugene Omoruyi scored a career-high 22 points to help the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Toronto Raptors 132-113 at the Paycom Center on Saturday and see a four-game losing streak come to an end.

Omoruyi’s 22 points was OKC’s game-high points ahead of the franchise’s leading scorer Shaivonte Gilgeous-Alexander who scored 20 points, forward Aaron Wiggins added 17 points while guard Josh Giddey also contributed 15 points to the win. 

Omoruyi, a two-way player for the Thunder shot 8-of-10 with 5-of-6 from three. He also contributed three rebounds, one assist and one steal in 27 minutes from the bench. He had scored 27 points for the Oklahoma City Blue in a 124-102 win over the Santa Cruz Warriors two days ago in the G-League. 

Reacting to his performance in the win, Omoruyi says he just had to stay ready for his opportunity, “It’s been a different journey for me, but I’m loving it every step of the way,” Omoruyi said. “It’s a long journey, but it doesn’t happen overnight, and I’ve just got to keep staying ready, and that’s what I keep doing.”

Thunder coach, Mark Daigneault, hailed Omoruyi’s performance, “He’s competitive and he wants to prove himself, and he gets amped up and tries to force something,” Daigneault said. “He did a really good job tonight in just letting the offense work for him, and he ends up getting open looks.”

Born in Benin City, Nigeria before his parents migrated to Canada when he was a-year-old, Omoruyi was not selected by any club in the 2021 NBA Draft.