Weatherford, Okla. -- Mid-America Christian led by as many as12 in the first half, but the NCAA Division II Lone Star Conference members Southwestern Oklahoma State Bulldogs buckled down and pulled away for a 74-61 win in an exhibition contest for the Evangels in the final day of the Weatherford Chamber Basketball Classic Saturday night (Nov. 20) in Weatherford, Okla.
The Evangels hung around tight for most of the night and was within two when John Shodipo hit two at the charity stripe that made it 53-51 with 5:33 remaining.
That's where the Bulldogs pulled away with a 10-2 run that was capped by a three from Ross Moore that gave SWOSU their largest lead to that point at 63-53 with 3:39 left.
A trey by Brandon Williams cut the deficit to seven, but dunks by Leon Nelson and Chancellor Jones and two free throws by Charlesto Flemmings made up a 6-0 spurt that put it out of reach for the Bulldogs with just 1:25 left.
The Evangels (2-2) trailed 9-8 early on but Bradley Cosby hit a jumper and Darius Gregory hit consecutive layups to lead an 8-0 spurt that gave them a 16-9 lead.
AfterNelson hit a layup to stop the run for the Bulldogs, Van Craven nailed a three and Camilo Valencia made a layup and a pair of free throws to extend the MACU lead to 12 at 23-11 at the 9:19 mark of the first half.
The Bulldogs (3-2) slowly began to chip away as Curtis Nickson scored five points as part of an 11-2 spurt that trimmed the Evangel lead to 25-22 with 6:07 left in the opening half.
MACU led 28-24 whenMoore scored five straight for the Bulldogs that helped knott the game at 29-29.
Cosby gave the Evangels a 32-31 lead at the half by hitting a free throw to close out the opening stanza.
Shodipo led the Evangels with 12 points along with a game-high 13 rebounds. Gregory also reached double-digit scoring with 10 points, while Valencia dished out a team-best four assists.
Moore paced four Bulldogs in double-figures with a game-high of 17 points and made 3-of-4 from three-point distance. Flemmings added 14and hit all five of his free throw attempts.
The Evangels out-rebounded the Bulldogs 47-32 overall, with a 23-9 bulge on the offensive glass.
But MACU was hurt by a 31.8 percent (21-of-66) from the field overall and only 28.6 percent (10-of-35) in the second half.
Meanwhile, the Bulldogs hit 47.2 percent (25-of-53) from the floor and turned it up a notch in the second half with a 53.8 percent (14-of-26) shooting clip.
MACU will next open up Sooner Athletic Conference action with a visit to theirin-city conference rivals Oklahoma City Stars on Tuesday night (Nov. 23) at 8 p.m.
