LITTLE ROCK — Oral Roberts used a flurry of three-pointers in the first half and solid rebounding throughout the game to defeat Central Arkansas 94-65 on Tuesday in a Southland Conference game at the Mabee Center in Tulsa.
The Golden Eagles (17-10, 12-3) heated up from the perimeter midway through the opening half to take control as they won their third consecutive game. Oral Roberts hit four three-pointers over a three-minute span to push its lead to 26-11 with 10:14 to play.
Jarvis Garner answered for UCA (9-16, 4-11) with a three-pointer with 8:29 left in the half, but the Eagles put together another run and led by as much as 25 points before halftime.
The Eagles shot 44.2 percent from the floor in the half and made 6 of 13 from behind the three-point line as they sent UCA to its fifth consecutive loss and its sixth in its past seven games.
“You look at their lineup, they have some players,” UCA Coach Corliss Williamson said. “They have the big guys inside, their wing players played well. They really killed us on the boards in the first half and we just never recovered from that.”
UCA had 12 turnovers in the first half and shot just 32.3 percent from the floor. ORU out-rebounded UCA 29-18 before halftime and had 14 offensive rebounds.
The Golden Eagles shot even better in the second half. They led by as much as 33 points while shooting 56.3 percent.
ORU shot 49.3 percent for the game and finished with 24 offensive rebounds, which it turned into 26 second-chance points.
Damen Bell-Holter scored 17 points to lead six Golden Eagles with at least 10 each. Warren Niles added 16 points, and Shawn Glover had 14. Bell-Holter also had a game-high 10 rebounds for his league-leading 11th game with at least 10 points and 10 rebounds.
“The points in the paint really killed us,” Williamson said. “They just attacked the basket and finished when they got in there. We get inside like that, we’re not finishing. We’re rushing our shots. We’re not concentrating. It’s like we’re scared to get a shot blocked or don’t want to draw the contact.”
Junior guard LaQuentin Miles led UCA with 14 points, 12 in the second half. Garner and junior forward Jordan Harks added 12 points each.
CENT. ARKANSAS (9-16) Garner 5-11 0-0 12, Borden 1-6 2-2 4, Crawford 3-14 1-2 8, Miles 6-12 2-4 14, Wells 0-2 2-2 2, McClure 3-3 0-0 9, L. Brown 0-3 0-0 0, Williams 0-1 0-0 0, Harks 6-11 0-0 12, Padgett 0-5 0-0 0, Ridley 0-0 0-0 0, T. Brown 1-3 0-0 2, Berete 1-5 0-0 2. Totals 26-76 7-10 65.
ORAL ROBERTS (17-10) Glover 7-13 0-1 14, Bell-Holter 6-14 5-8 17, Jackson 0-2 0-0 0, Niles 7-15 0-0 16, Billbury 6-10 0-0 12, Tannehill 0-1 0-0 0, Conley 2-2 4-4 8, Lliteras 1-3 0-0 3, Roundtree 5-10 3-7 13, Purnell 0-1 0-0 0, Manghum 3-4 2-2 11. Totals 37-75 14-22 94.
Halftime-Oral Roberts 50-27. 3-Point Goals-Cent. Arkansas 6-21 (McClure 3-3, Garner 2-7, Crawford 1-6, Miles 0-1, Padgett 0-4), Oral Roberts 6-17 (Manghum 3-4, Niles 2-6, Lliteras 1-3, Purnell 0-1, Jackson 0-1, Billbury 0-1, Bell-Holter 0-1). Fouled Out-None. Rebounds-Cent. Arkansas 38 (Harks 6), Oral Roberts 56 (Roundtree 13). Assists-Cent. Arkansas 11 (Crawford 3), Oral Roberts 16 (Niles 3). Total Fouls-Cent. Arkansas 19, Oral Roberts 12. Attendance-3,559.
Sports, Pages 24 on 02/20/2013