Upper Arlington placed three players in double figures as the Golden Bears cruised to a 63-40 win against Raytown South in the opening round of the Joe Machens Great 8 Classic at Fleming Fieldhouse on Friday night.
Kevin Vannatta scored a game-high 19 points, while Wes Davis added 13 and Wynn Brown chipped in 10 for the Golden Bears (4-1), who jumped out to a 14-1 lead after the first quarter.
Upper Arlington, from Columbus, Ohio, was 19-of-31 from the field and 23-of-25 from the free-throw line.
Demon Hyler scored 13 points - nine in the fourth quarter - to lead Raytown South (4-3), which was 16-of-43 from the field and just 3-of-7 from the charity stripe.
Vannatta scored seven points in the first quarter to help give Upper Arlington an early spark and the Golden Bears didn't look back from there.
Vannatta, a UNC-Asheville signee, was 5-of-8 from the field and 9-of-10 from the free-throw line in the contest.
Upper Arlington led 22-3 with 6:01 left in the second quarter before Raytown South sophomore Bryan Trimble hit the Cardinals' first field goal of the game with 5:43 left before the half.
Raytown South brought it within 16 late in the period, but Chris Allocco capped off a 9-3 run with a buzzer beating 3-pointer to give Upper Arlington a 34-11 advantage at halftime.
The Golden Bears led by as many as 28 late in the third quarter and maintained at least a 20-point lead throughout the fourth quarter, despite being outscored 16-10 in the final period.
Upper Arlington will take on Tulsa (Okla.) Central at 8:30 p.m. today in a winner's bracket semifinal game at Fleming Fieldhouse.
Raytown South will face Battle in a loser's bracket semifinal game at 5:30 p.m. today.