Winona Lake, Ind. -- The Mid-America Christian University Evangels rode a stifling defensive effort and a 32-point effort from Charlie Shorter to knock off the Roberts Wesleyan College Redhawks 91-69 to move on to the fifth-place game of the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) National Tournament tomorrow night.  The Evangels will face off against sixth-seeded Spring Arbor University at 6 p.m.  Spring Arbor defeated Tennessee Temple 85-60 later in the day to set up a matchup with MACU.

Just one day after scoring 101 points against top-seeded Fresno Pacific, the Redhawks were limited to just 31.6 percent (24-of-76) shooting against the Evangels' stingy defense.

After Devon Grimes scored to put the Redhawks in front 26-22, the Evangels made their move as a three from Charlie Shorter and a jumper by Yuri Hager put the Evangels in front by one.

It was 28-28 when the Evangels closed the half on a 10-2 run, capped by a long three by Shorter as time expired that gave MACU a 38-30 lead at the break.

The Evangels picked up where they left off by holding the Redhawks scoreless for the first three minutes of the second half and five straight from Shorter made it a 13-point advantage.

Shorter then continued the offensive onslaught by scoring nine points to fuel a 20-4 spurt that ballooned the lead to 26 at 63-37 at the 12:48 mark.

Mike Stone and Tyrel Dixon helped the Redhawks briefly get back into it with five points each that sparked a 13-0 spurt over the next three minutes that cut the Evangel lead in half at 63-50 with 10:03 remaining.

But the Evangels (18-13) quickly seized control again as an alley-oop from Shorter to Josh Minner highlighted an 11-1 run that stretched the back to 74-51 with 8:17 to go.

A layup by Shorter later gave the Evangels their largest of the game at 83-54 at the 5:00 mark.

Shorter shot 10-of-21 overall from the floor and 9-of-10 from the charity stripe to go along with eight rebounds and a game-high four steals.  Angelo Lewis scored 14 with nine boards and Camilo Valencia added 11 points.  Minner chipped in with 10, while Reggie Davis had another solid all-around game of 10 rebounds, five assists and five points.

Dixon paced the Redhawks with 16 points and Grimes had 15 along with a game-high 11 rebounds.

The Evangels held a commanding 55-43 in rebounding, with a 35-27 edge on the defensive boards.