Oral Roberts University

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The Basics
Score: Oral Roberts 84 – Liberty 70
Record: ORU (8-3) – LU (6-4)
Location: Tulsa, Oklahoma (Mabee Center)
 
TULSA, Okla. – Max Abmas became the eighth player in ORU history to score 2,000-plus career points Monday evening as the Oral Roberts men's basketball team shutdown Liberty, 84-70, at the Mabee Center.
 
In a battle between two of the nation's best shooters, Abmas came out on top and led all scorers with 26 points. He sits eighth all-time in the ORU record book and brought his career point total to 2,015. On the night, Abmas hit five three-point buckets to move him to second all-time in ORU history in three-point shots made (335), surpassing Tim Gill (1994-98).
 
After going down by two to open the game, ORU sparked an 8-0 run to go up by six after Connor Vanover hit back-to-back three-point buckets. After maintaining a lead for seven minutes, the Flames took advantage of a 7-0 run to go up by one. ORU would then retake the lead and go up by four before Liberty went on a 12-4 run to go up by eight with five minutes left in the first half. It was the Flames largest lead of the game. ORU managed to cut the deficit to four when Abmas hit his third long ball of the half to send it to intermission with a 42-38 score. Liberty shot 62.5 percent overall and 57.1 percent from deep in the first 20 minutes.
 
Defense was the star of the second half for ORU as the Golden Eagles held the Flames to 28 points. Liberty started the half going up by six before Oral Roberts used a 13-2 run to go up by five with 15:36 to play. ORU would never give up the lead again. With 11:55 on the clock, Patrick Mwamba nailed a three-point shot to lift ORU up by nine. The Flames managed to pull back to within five with eight minutes to go, but that's as close as they would get. A 13-3 run by ORU that was capped off by a driving layup by Kareem Thompson would give ORU a 15 point advantage with four minutes left. The Golden Eagles went up by as much as 16 with two minutes to go, but the teams closed out the big Monday showdown with an 84-70 score. The Golden Eagles limited the visitors to 39 percent shooting from the field in the second half.
 
It was the fifth-straight win for ORU and for the eighth-straight game, ORU had four or more players score in double figures. Behind Abmas' 26, Issac McBride and Thompson each added 15, followed up by Vanover with 11. The Golden Eagles improve to 2-0 all-time against Liberty and it was the first win against the Flames at the Mabee Center.

Individual Leaders
Oral Roberts: Abmas scored 26 points and Mwamba pulled down eight rebounds.

Liberty: Darius McGhee captured 24 on the night and Kyle Rode grabbed five rebounds.

Inside the Box Score
- ORU shot 39.3 percent from the three-point line.
 
- ORU shot 48.4 percent from the field.

- The Golden Eagles had 11 assists on 30 made baskets.

- Oral Roberts had 32 points in the paint and 11 bench points.

- ORU forced LU to 20 turnovers and scored 23 points off those takeaways.

News and Notes

- Abmas has scored 2,015 career points which puts him 8^th all-time in the ORU record book. He is the eighth player to record 2,000-plus points in ORU history. He's recorded 335 three-pointer made putting him second all-time in ORU history in that category.
 
- Vanover has 35 blocks on the season and is third the nation in total blocks and second in blocks per game.

- Thompson captured a season high 15 points.

- ORU had a season high 13 steals.

- For the 10^th game this season ORU had four or more players score in double-digits.

- It was the eighth consecutive game with four or more double-figure scorers.

Up Next
ORU will continue its' homestand Friday, December 16 when the Missouri State Bears visit the Mabee Center at 7 p.m.

For the latest information on ORU Men's Basketball, follow the Golden Eagles on Twitter and Instagram, or go to www.ORUAthletics.com. Fans can also receive updates on the team by downloading the ORU Athletics app from the App Store or Google Play Store.