Wichita
Falls, Texas
- The Mid-America Christian Evangels only trailed the No. 21-ranked (NCAA D-II)
Midwestern State Mustangs 44-32 at the half, but the Mustangs exploded for 60
points in the second half and cruised to a 104-55 win in an exhibition matchup
for the Evangels Thursday night (Dec. 30) in Wichita Falls, Texas.
Deuce Nichols helped the Mustangs open things up in the
second half by scoring the last five points of a second-half opening 9-0 run
that put the Mustangs comfortably ahead by 21 points.
The Mustangs (10-1, 0-0 LSC) ballooned the lead to 83-44 on seven
straight points from Chris Hagan and maintained at least a 26-point lead the
rest of the way.
A three by Brandon Williams and a free throw by Nathan Pratt
gave the Evangels and early 4-3 lead, but back-to-back threes from Nichols and
Kevin Loyd fueled a 10-0 run that put the Mustangs in front 13-4 at the 15:18
mark of the first half.
After Camilo Valencia
drove in for a layup to stem the tide for the Evangels, Keonte' Logan and
Michael Loyd each hit from long-range and Charlie Logan scored inside to push
the lead to 21-6.
Van Craven then came off the bench and gave the Evangels a
spark with a trey and a long jumper to spark a 14-4 run that was capped by a
three from Williams that made it 25-20.
A jumper by Pratt brought the Evangels to within 26-22 when
the Mustangs used a 7-1 run to once again push the lead back into to
double-digits at 33-23.
An alley-oop to Chris Buttermore pushed the lead to 42-25
and gave the Mustangs their largest lead of the half at the 3:12 mark.
The Evangels clawed back as a layup from Valencia, two free throws by
Williams and a bucket inside from Nosa Amadasun helped MACU score six straight
and come within 44-32 at the half.
Williams led the Evangels with 14 points and Donell Lewis
dished out a team-high six assists.
Hagan led all scorers with 23 points and a game-high nine
assists to pace the Mustangs (10-1). David
Terrell led the way with nine boards for MSU.
The Evangels will dive back into action in the Sooner
Athletic Conference by hosting John Brown on New Year's Day (Jan. 1) at 5 p.m.
at the Gaulke Activity Center.
