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    TULSA, Okla._ The University of Central Arkansas Bears are back on the road to face the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles in non-conference action on Saturday.

    The Bears and Golden Eagles will tip off at 7 p.m. at the Mabee Center, UCA's first trip to the venue since 2014 when both programs were part of the Southland Conference. They will be meeting for the eighth time overall, with ORU leading the series 4-3.

    The Bears won last year's matchup at the Farris Center, in the debut of Scottie Pippen Court, with a solid defensive effort and some timely free-throw shooting down the stretch. UCA held ORU's leading scorer Max Abmas to just 8 points on 3-of-18 shooting. He entered the game averaging 24.5 points per game but started 0 for 15 against the Bears.

    After closing the first half on a 25-4 run, good for a 38-21 halftime lead, the Bears needed five free throws in the final 8.8 seconds from Darious Hall and Collin Cooper to seal the win. Hall had 19 points and 16 rebounds, while then-freshman guard Camren Hunter had 17 points and 8 rebounds. Cooper had 13 points, including a huge stretch of three consecutive three-pointers in the first half.

    Baptist Prep's Isaac McBride of Little Rock came off the ORU bench and scored 25 points to lead the Golden Eagles.

    UCA (5-4) is coming off a hard-fought 72-67 victory over Arkansas State on Tuesday night at the Farris Center in front of a season-high crowd of 2,385. Hunter topped the Bears with 20 points while sophomore Elias Cato had 14 points, 8 rebounds and 3 blocked shots off the bench. Cooper went 3 of 8 from three-point range and chipped in 13 points, while senior Eddy Kayouloud had 12 points and 9 rebounds.

    The Golden Eagles are 6-3 on the season, with quality losses to St. Mary's, Utah State and No. 1 Houston. Their six wins have come against John Brown, Texas Southern, Oklahoma Baptist, Rogers State, Ozark Christian and Tulsa. The latter was a 77-66 win in their last outing on Saturday in the annual "Mayor's Cup." Abmas scored a team-high 28 points.

    ORU features 7-foot-5 transfer center Conner Vanover, the younger brother of former UCA player and current graduate assistant Brandon Vanover.  Vanover is averaging 12.6 points and 7.6 rebounds and has blocked 30 shots in eight games after transferring from Arkansas. He is second in the nation in blocks.

    The game will be carried live on The Bear 91.3 and 92.7 Jack FM, with video available at oruathletics.com/watch. UCA will be off next week for final exams before heading back to Oklahoma to face the OU Sooners on Saturday, Dec.  17 in Norman.