Feb. 17, 2009

2.16.09 - Oklahoma City, Okla.- Although Senior Tyron Goldsmith and Freshman Charlie Shorter both put up 14 points on the night; the Evangels (3-22) were unable to get past Sooner Athletic Conference opponent Oklahoma City University (15-11) on Monday evening at Abe Lemons Arena.

The teams battled for the first five minutes of the half but the Stars used a 9-0 run to give them the lead (25-16) with just under 16 minutes in the half. The Evangels cut the Stars lead to six however, a 14-4 run gave OCU a 39-23 advantage at the eight-minute mark. Brandon Williams hit back-to-back bucket with under two minutes in the half allowing MACU to cut the OCU's lead to nine points (45-36) at the break.

With 13:18 to play in the game MACU had chipped the Stars lead to 50-48. The Stars used a 10-0 run (63-50) to give them some breathing room with just under nine minutes to play. With 1:11 left in regulation, Shorter hit a three-pointer to bring the Evangels within eight (70-62) but they ran out of time losing by a final score of 72-62.

MACU played the Stars close in the second half, with the Stars only outscoring the Evangels by one points (27-26).

The Evangels out rebounded the OCU 36-26.

Josh Ball, only one bucket behind Goldsmith and Shorter, had 12 points, four rebounds and two steals.

The Evangels shot 75 percent from the free throw line but struggled behind the arc, only shooting 10 percent.

The Evangels are back at home on Thursday, February 19th at 8 p.m. They will take on Rogers State University who was unanimously voted number one in the NAIA Coaches Poll this week.