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The Basics
Score: Oral Roberts 80 – Missouri State 77
Record: ORU (9-3) – MSU (4-7)
Location: Tulsa, Oklahoma (Mabee Center)
 
TULSA, Okla. – The Oral Roberts men's basketball team closed out nonconference play Friday evening with an 80-77 win over Missouri State at the Mabee Center, to improve to 9-3, the best nonconference record for ORU since 2004-05.
 
Max Abmas captured 23 points to lead all scorers to improve his career total to 2,038, which puts him tied for sixth all-time in program history with Mark Acres (1981-85). It was his fifth consecutive 20-plus point outing and ninth-straight 10-plus point game.
 
ORU got things going from the tip with Connor Vanover winning the jump and scoring the game's first points. After leading by one, five minutes in, the Golden Eagles went on a quick 8-0 run to lead by nine, three minutes later. Abmas gave the team its first double-digit lead of the night with a three-pointer to go up, 33-22, with six minutes left on the clock. Missouri State was only able to pull to within nine throughout the remainder of the half. After an MSU layup with 14 seconds to play, Issac McBride hit a three pointer to make it a 45-32 advantage for ORU going to halftime. Both team shots above 50 percent from the field in the first half with ORU shooting 69.2 percent. Abmas and McBride led all scorers with 11 apiece.
 
A minute and half into the second stanza, the Golden Eagles sparked a 10-0 run to go up by 23 with 16 minutes to play. However, Missouri State didn't go away. The Bears then went on a 24-4 run over the span of five minutes to cut it down to a three point game with 9:14 on the clock. After a pair of free-throws by Vanover, the Golden Eagles found themselves up by eight with 7:20 to go. The Bears then managed an 8-0 run to tie the game, 71-71, with 4:03 to play. MSU took a two point lead with 1:34 left, but it was quickly erased after a fast break layup by Kareem Thompson. After a defensive stop, Patrick Mwamba showed his athleticism with an and-one dunk with 58 seconds left. Mwamba gave ORU a three-point lead with the free-throw. MSU then hit two free-throws on the other end to cut it to one. With 19 seconds left, Vanover dunked the ball to lift ORU back up by three. The Golden Eagles then buckled down defensively to win, 80-77.
 
It was the sixth-straight win for ORU as the Golden Eagles tied their longest winning streak from last season. For the ninth-straight game, ORU had four or more players score in double figures. Behind Abmas' 23, Vanover scored 19, McBride had 14 and Carlos Jurgens added 10. With the win, the Golden Eagles tied the all-time series with MSU, 10-10. ORU closed out the nonconference slate of the season with a 9-3 overall record and moved to 7-0 at home.

Individual Leaders
Oral Roberts: Abmas scored 23 points and Vanover pulled down eight rebounds.

Missouri State: Jonathan Mogbo scored 14 and grabbed seven rebounds. Dalen Ridgnal also had seven boards.

Inside the Box Score
- ORU shot 33.3 percent from the three-point line.
 
- ORU shot 55.8 percent from the field.

- The Golden Eagles had 13 assists on 29 made baskets.

- Oral Roberts had 40 points in the paint and eight bench points.

- ORU forced MSU to 12 turnovers and scored 12 points off those takeaways.

News and Notes

- Abmas has scored 2,038 career points which puts him 6^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 337 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. He also tied his season high 19 points with a season high eight free-throws.

- For the 11^th game this season ORU had four or more players score in double-digits.

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

Up Next
The Golden Eagles will begin Summit League play Monday, December 19 when defending league champion South Dakota State visits 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.