Ada, Okla. -- Brandon Williams and Charlie Shorter combined for 49 points to power the Mid-America Christian University Evangels past the NCAA D-II East Central Tigers 91-86 in an exhibition for the Evangels Saturday night (Dec. 10) at the Kerr Center in Ada, Okla.

The Evangels (4-4, 0-4 SAC) led by four at the half and quickly extended to a 16-point advantage as consecutive jumpers by Shorter and a three by Williams sparked a 19-4 run that made it 59-43 with 14:13 remaining.

MACU would have to hold off the Tigers down the stretch though as Darnell Davis and Caprest Rhone teamed up for eight points of an 11-2 spurt that cut the lead to 74-72 at the 7:16 mark. 

A trey by Williams stopped the run and a layup from Blake Larson built the Evangel lead back to 84-76.

Rhone and Davis again brought the Tigers (2-6) within striking distance as a three by Rhone and two free throws from Davis made it 84-81 with 1:40 left. 

On the next possession, a huge offensive rebound and dunk by George Haynes put the advantage back into double-figures at 86-81. 

After Davis and Camilo Valencia exchanged two free throws, things got interesting as another trey by Rhone brought ECU to within a bucket at 88-86 with 28 seconds left. 

The Tigers had a chance to tie after Williams split a pair at the charity stripe, but a three by Matthew Harding was off the mark and Valencia sealed the victory by hitting two more free throws with six seconds left. 

ECU got off to a quick start, leading by as many as nine in the first half.  The Evangels trailed 34-28 but scored the final 10 points over the final 3:31 to take a 38-34 lead at the break.

Williams scored a game-high 27 points on 11-of-16 overall from the field and 3-of-5 from beyond the arc.  Shorter scored 27, while Valencia added 16 along with a game-high nine assists.  Haynes chipped in with eight points and a game-high 10 rebounds. 

Rhone paced the Tigers with 23 points and hit 4-of-7 from three-point distance.  Davis scored 22 and hit all 10 of his free-throw attempts. 

The Evangels out-rebounded the Tigers by a slim 39-38 tally and also held a 14-10 edge on the offensive glass.

MACU will be right back at it on Monday night against nearby rival Southwestern Christian at 7:30 p.m. at the Gaulke Activity Center. 

The Evangels will then engage the ECU Tigers again at home in another exhibition on Thursday night (Dec. 15) at 7 p.m.