Bethany, Okla. -- The Mid-America Christian University Evangels placed six players in double-figures to defeat the Southwestern Christian University Eagles 112-94 in the regular season finale Saturday evening (Mar. 1) in Bethany, Okla.
The victory coupled with No. 17-ranked Oklahoma City University's loss today to Oklahoma Baptist University creates a four-way tie for second place in the Sooner Athletic Conference along with No. 20-ranked St. Gregory's University and Wayland Baptist University. The finish is the Evangels' highest in the league since joining the NAIA in 2007.
The Evangels (16-10, 12-8 SAC) trailed early 24-20 before taking control with a 14-1 spurt that created a nine-point lead at the 6:29 mark of the second half.
After the Eagles got back into and came within six, five straight points from Jarius Wilson helped the Evangels outscore SCU 14-8 over the final three minutes of the half to double that advantage to 56-43 at the break.
SCU again fought back early in the second half and twice came within six, with the last being on a three-point play by Reggie Sloan that made it 62-56 with 15:34 left.
But a score from Reggie Davis and a three by Semar Farris extended the lead back to double-figures and began a 16-4 run that built the lead that gave the Evangels their biggest lead to that point of 81-63 with 11:26 remaining.
Once again, the Eagles refused to go away and charged back to within nine on a trey by Tyler Turner that made it 90-81 with 6:43 left.
Stephen Armstrong then scored five straight points, including a three-point play that put the Evangels back on top by 14 and this time MACU never allowed the lead to dip below double-digits the rest of the way.
Senior forward Josh Minner closed out his regular season career in style by finishing with a career-high 23 points on 10-of-13 shooting from the field. Senior Angelo Lewis followed closely with 22 points along with a team-high eight rebounds. Wilson scored 20 and Farris added 18 points. Davis produced 15 points and Armstrong chipped in with 11.
Sloan scored a game-high 29 points to lead the Eagles, while Turner scored 19 and hit 6-of-9 from three-point distance. Adam Dirlbeck also scored in double-figures with 18 points for SCU.
The rebounding was even at 29-29 overall, but the Evangels forced 23 turnovers, compared to only eight giveaways of their own.
The 112 points are the most the Evangels have scored since scoring 119 points during the 2011-12 season, also in a victory over SCU.
The Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament now awaits the Evangels beginning next week on the campus of Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee, Okla. Times and opponents are to be determined and will be revealed by the conference soon.
