Shawnee, Okla. -- Dubbed the NAIA Game of the Week, the matchup lived up to the billing but the No. 17-ranked Mid-America Christian University Evangels came up just short at the No. 23-ranked St. Gregory's University Cavaliers, 96-92 Saturday evening (Feb. 22) in Shawnee, Okla.
With Wayland Baptist's upset today at conference front runner Southwestern Assemblies of God University, the Evangels fall into a fourth-place tie in the Sooner Athletic Conference with WBU at 10-8 in the league.
The Evangels played from behind most of the day and trailed by as many as 14 before finally pulling even when Jarius Wilson hit a three that created an 88-88 gridlock with 1:15 remaining.
The pivotal point of the game came on the next possession when Tilford Thornton scored and drew a foul to put the Cavaliers back in front.
Following a miss by Thornton at the charity stripe, the Evangels failed to corral the rebound as Josiah Campbell grabbed the offensive board that led to Thornton being fouled and hitting two freebies to push the SGU lead to two possessions.
From there, two free throws by Semar Farris and a score from Wilson each time pulled the Evangels to within two points, but Marty Wilkerson and Thornton each went 2-of-2 at the foul line down the stretch to close out the win for the Cavaliers.
Down 67-53 with 15:44 left, the Evangels fought their way back and made a game of it when Reggie Davis hit three treys and Farris nailed a pair from the perimeter to help the Evangels outscore the Cavaliers 22-11 over the next six minutes to trim the deficit to 78-75.
It was back and forth in the early going of the opening half as a field goal by Stephen Armstrong put the Evangels in front 19-18.
That's the point SGU gained separation by using an 8-1 spurt to pull out to a 27-20 lead.
Wilkerson later scored to put the Cavaliers ahead by double-digits at 34-24 and the Cavaliers maintained control the rest of the half and took a 54-42 lead into the break.
Farris led six Evangels in double figures with a game-high 28 points along with six assists and four steals. Angelo Lewis scored 16 points and recorded a team-high nine rebounds. Davis chipped in with 12, while Josh Smith and Josh Minner each finished with 11 points. Smith also had four steals in the game. Wilson added 10 points.
Wilkerson led the Cavaliers with 27 points and five assists, followed closely by Thornton's 26 points and team-best eight boards.
The Evangels held a 38-33 edge overall in rebounding, but were hurt by allowing the Cavaliers to shoot 54.8 percent (34-of-62) from the floor, including a blazing 59.4 percent (19-of-32) in the first half.
MACU will try to get back on the winning track in their home finale next Thursday night (Feb. 27) against Oklahoma City University. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. inside the Gaulke Activity Center.
