Oklahoma City, Okla. - The Mid-America Christian Evangels led by as many as 12 in the second half, but couldn't hold on as the Oklahoma City Stars remained undefeated by rallying for a 77-73 win in the Sooner Athletic Conference opener for both squads Tuesday night (Nov. 23) at Abe Lemons Arena in Oklahoma City.

The Evangels had extended a four-point halftime advantage to 12 on a layup by George Haynes at the 11:10 mark of the second half and still led 60-49 after another layup by Darius Gregory made it 60-49 with 8:01 remaining when the Stars began their charge back.

Layups by Nate Flowers and Brandon Moton cut the lead to seven before a three-point play by John Shodipo put the Evangels back up by 10.

Moton then hit a pair of threes to spark a 9-0 run that made it a one-point game at 63-62 with 4:09 remaining.

Leading scorer Brandon Williams then picked a good time to score his first points of the night with a three that momentarily stabilized things for MACU to make it 66-62.

But Johnny Stephene hit consecutive threes to give the Stars their first lead since the first half at 68-66 with 3:26 remaining.

Nathan Pratt then completed a three-point play that gave the Evangels the lead once again at the 3:07 mark.

The two squads then traded scores as Shodipo hit a layup that gave MACU a 71-70 lead.

Consecutive layups by Flowers gave the Stars a three-point lead before another layup by Shodipo made it a one-point contest with only 19 seconds remaining.

Two free throws by Moten extended the OCU lead to three and a potentially-tying three-point attempt by the Evangels was off the mark in the final seconds.

One free throw by Stephene with two seconds left secured the come-from-behind win for the Stars (6-0).

The opening half was tight throughout with three ties and five lead changes. The Evangels trailed 15-11 when Camilo Valencia hit a trey and drew a foul, then hit the free-throw to complete the four-point play and tie the score with 11:43 left until halftime.

OCU then grabbed the lead with five straight points on a tip-in by Bryant Williams and a three-point play by Shane Rodgers.

The Stars extended the lead to eight on two occasions when the Evangels made their move.

Van Craven got it started with a three and then hit a pair of technical free-throws that cut the deficit to 34-31 with 3:58 left in the half.

Gregory tied the score with a three-point play and then gave the Evangels the lead with a layup at the 3:25 mark.

After Williams tied it with a jumper, a dunk by Haynes gave MACU the lead once again with 1:28 left in the first half.

The Evangels led 39-37 when Shodipo took a perfectly executed in-bounds pass from Donell Lewis and scored with four seconds left to extend to a 41-37 MACU lead at the break.

Defense fueled the 15-4 run to end the first half, as MACU held OCU to only 1-of-6 shooting and forced four turnovers over the final 4:56 of the opening half.

Shodipo led four Evangels in double figures with a game-high 21 points along with six rebounds.

Gregory scored 13, with Pratt adding 11 and Haynes chipping in with 10 and also pulling down six boards.

Four Stars also reached double-digit scoring, led by Stephene's team-high 18. Moton tallied 15 and Flowers and Rodgers each scored 10. Flowers recorded a game-high 14 rebounds.

The Evangels created 23 turnovers and turned them into 27 points, but were out-rebounded 49-32 overall.

MACU will next host Lubbock Christian on Dec. 2, with tip-off slated for 8 p.m. at the Gaulke Activity Center.