OKLAHOMA CITY -- The No. 16-ranked Mid-America Christian University Evangels held off the Texas Wesleyan University Rams 92-80 to win their fourth straight game today (Feb. 1) inside the Gaulke Activity Center.
The improves to Evangels to 13-5 overall and keeps them in second place in the Sooner Athletic Conference with a 9-3 conference mark.
MACU received a game-high 22 points from Reggie Davis, including 18 in the first half that fueled a 21-point halftime lead that the Evangels rode home in the second half.
The Evangels took control of the game early on, using a 14-4 spurt as consecutive threes by Jarius Wilson and a putback by Reggie Davis made it 30-15 at the 10:31 mark of the opening half.
Following a free throw by Rilwan Bakare, Davis nailed consecutive treys to spark a 7-1 run that built the lead to 20 at 37-17.
The Evangels went on to a lead of 53-32 at the break.
MACU led by double-figures the entire second half, but the Rams wouldn't go away quietly and crawled within 12 before Semar Farris hit a clutch three with 5:30 left that pushed the lead back to 15.
Farris then helped seal the victory by making 8-of-10 at the charity stripe over the final 1:21.
Davis also led the Evangels with seven rebounds, while Farris scored 17 along with a team-high six assists. Wilson added 15 and Stephen Armstrong scored 12 points.
Bakare led five Rams in double-figures with 19 points, followed by Deonte Jones with 18. Kenny Rhymes scored 17 and recorded a game-high 13 boards. Jorge Redmon chipped in with 11 and had a game-high seven assists. Dallas Jones also scored in double-figures with 10 points.
The Evangels were out-rebounded 55-42 overall and 23-15 on the offensive glass, but limited the Rams to only 17.4 percent (4-of-23) shooting from beyond the arc, including 0-of-14 in the first half.
MACU will remain at home and host Oklahoma Baptist University on Tuesday night (Feb. 4) at 8 p.m. inside the Gaulke Activity Center. The Evangels defeated OBU on the road in the first matchup 69-64 back on Jan. 7 in Shawnee, Okla.
