Bartlesville, Okla. -- Just one night after pouring in 39 points, senior guard Charlie Shorter outdone himself with a career-high 44 points to lead the Mid-America Christian University Evangels to their second appearance in the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) Central Regional championship game in the last three years with an 89-87 victory over the second-seeded Oklahoma Christian University Eagles Friday night in Bartlesville, Okla.
MACU, the third seed in the tourney, will face top-seeded McMurry University (Texas) tomorrow afternoon (Mar. 9) at 3 p.m.
The Evangels needed every one of Shorter's career-best output as the Eagles battled until the final seconds.
Seemingly in control with an 88-82 lead with 28 seconds left, the Eagles stormed back and came within 88-87 on a layup from Will Reinke and a three-point play from Kendre Talley with nine seconds left.
After Shorter split a pair of free-throws, Brandon Troutman missed a contested three as time expired to seal the win for the Evangels.
Following an 8-0 spurt by the Eagles that had given OC its first lead since the 11:53 mark of the first half, Josh Smith started a 7-0 push with an offensive rebound and putback that gave the Evangels an 85-79 edge with 48 seconds left.
The Evangels (16-12) seized control in the first half as consecutive threes by Shorter made it 35-27 and Josh Smith hit a layup at the end of the half to give MACU a 40-31 lead heading into the break.
A dunk by Josh Minner and layup from Shorter stretched the lead to 48-33 in the early stages of the second half, but the Eagles answered with 10 straight to trim the lead to five and later tied the score when Talley hit a three to cap a 14-5 spurt that made it 59-59 at the 11:26 mark of the second half.
Shorter shot 15-of-33 from the floor and 5-of-10 from three-point distance. He also sprinkled in eight rebounds and five assists. Angelo Lewis produced a double-double of 17 points and 12 rebounds.
Talley led four Eagles in double-figures with 27 points and Reinke had 26 points and a game-high 15 boards.
MACU held a 46-42 edge in rebounding, with a 16-12 advantage on the offensive glass.
