TULSA, Okla. _ A three-point barrage carried the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles to a 111-78 victory over the University of Central Arkansas Bears on Saturday night in non-conference action at the Mabee Center.

The Golden Eagles (7-3 overall, 5-0 at home) connected on 16 three-pointers after making just six in a 70-67 loss at the Farris Center a year ago. Senior guard Max Abmas scored 31 points to lead five Golden Eagles in double figures. ORU shot 59.4 percent overall and even better from beyond the arc at 61.5 percent.

"We knew they were going to be more than ready," said UCA head coach Anthony Boone. "We talked to our guys about that. We pointed out that since this game was scheduled, I would imagine Oral Roberts had it circled on their schedule. They felt like we're not a team that should beat them, and they really wanted to prove that point this year. 

"Our guys worked hard in practice leading up to it, but Oral Roberts is a good team. And much improved from last year, just from adding Connor Vanover. It makes them a much better team than they were." 

The Golden Eagles made 11 (of 16) three-pointers in the first half that gave them a 54-39 lead at the break. Abmas, a senior guard who averages 17.4 points per game, missed his first 15 shots en route to an eight-point performance last year, This time he scored 24 of his game-high 31 points in the first half, including five threes in the opening half.

Kayouloud kept the Bears within striking distance with 18 points in the first half, going 3 of 3 from beyond the arc. Sophomore guard Camren Hunter had 14 at the break.

"They started out on fire and hit a couple of threes, even with us guarding them tightly," said Boone. "Then we started guarding them even tighter and they started driving around us and we had to help and then they got open threes. Once the crack let a little water through, it burst wide open."

The Bears cut the deficit to 12 points early in the second half before the Golden Eagles put together a 10-0 run to effectively end it. UCA never got the margin under 17 points the rest of the way.

"We were poised to cut it to about five and we cut it to 12," said Boone. "Then we missed an opportunity here or there, we had rebounds in our hands and we let them take it away. We just didn't play tough enough. They gave us a chance to cut the lead down pretty slim and we didn't take it."

Kayouloud finished 8 of 12 overall and 3 of 3 from three-point range for 20 points for the Bears, who made 11 three-pointers of their own. However, UCA was just 7 of 7 at the free-throw line while ORU was 19 of 21 (90.5 percent). Hunter chipped in 19 points and redshirt freshman V.J. Reeves had a career-high 12 points, all in the second half. The Bears pulled down 13 offensive rebounds among their 34 total but also had 16 turnovers.

The Bears will be off next week for final exams before returning to Oklahoma to face the Oklahoma Sooners on Saturday in Norman, Okla.