Siloam Springs, Ark. -- Jarius Wilson scored a game-high 26 points to lead the No. 22-ranked Mid-America Christian University Evangels to a big road 87-74 victory at the John Brown University Golden Eagles Thursday night (Jan. 23) in Siloam Springs, Ark.
The win moves the Evangels to 10-5 overall and puts them in a three-way tie for second place in the Sooner Athletic Conference at 6-3 with No. 17-ranked St. Gregory's University and Oklahoma City University. SGU will visit the Gaulke Activity Center Saturday afternoon (Jan. 25) at 5 p.m. for a Top 25 showdown.
The Evangels led by as much as seven in the first half and three at the break before gaining seperation early in the second half.
Angelo Lewis began the second half with a three and five straight points from Wilson fueled an 8-2 push that built the lead to 50-41 at the 17:21 mark.
JBU wouldn't go away easily and came within three on a bucket by Kurtis Phillips that trimmed the lead to 56-53.
Josh Minner then came alive by scoring seven points of a 9-1 spurt over the next three minutes that gave the Evangels their biggest lead to that point, 65-54 with 9:38 remaining.
Leading 70-62, the Evangels put the final dagger in the Golden Eagles as Lewis converted a three-point play that started a decisive 11-2 run that expanded the lead to a commanding 81-64 with 3:48 remaining.
MACU began the game slowly as the Golden Eagles darted out to a 13-4 lead in the first four minutes of the game.
It didn't take long for the Evangels to respond as Wilson capped a 13-2 spurt that gave MACU its first lead of the game at 17-15.
The game was tied at 22-22 when Semar Farris hit a three to give the Evangels a lead they wouldn't relinquish the rest of the way.
Wilson's 26 points came on a solid 10-of-15 overall from the field, 4-of-6 from three-point range and 2-of-2 at the foul line. Farris scored 19 and continued his stellar defensive play with five steals. Lewis added 18 points with six rebounds and Reggie Davis chipped in with 10. Minner wound up with nine points and also had six boards.
Kofi Josephs led the Golden Eagles (12-6, 2-6 SAC) with 21 points and Gilbert Gyamfi scored 14 along with a game-high nine boards. Phillips also reached double-figure scoring with 12 points.
The Evangels shot the ball well with a 56.5 percent (35-of-62) shooting clip from the field overall and 58.3 percent (7-of-12) from three-point range.
Meanwhile, JBU entered the game as the fourth-best shooting team in the NAIA (.506) but struggled against the Evangels' defensive effort tonight, going only 40.7 percent (24-of-59) overall and only 31.3 percent (10-of-32) in the second half.
MACU was especially stingy defending the perimeter, limiting JBU to only 15.8 percent (3-of-19) from three-point distance.
