OKLAHOMA CITY -- Kyle Weaver exploded for 47 points to lead the Colorado Christian University Cougars to an 86-79 win over the Mid-America Christian University Evangels in the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) Central Regional semifinals Friday afternoon (Mar. 14) on the campus of Oklahoma Christian University in Oklahoma City.
The Evangels will now await a probable at-large bid into the NCCAA National Tournament that will begin next week on the campus of Grace College in Winona Lake, Ind.
MACU trailed by as many as 13 in the second half before making things interesting when consecutive buckets by Josh Minner ignited a 9-0 push that cut the deficit to just 83-79 with 52 seconds left.
But the Cougars got possession and a three by Avery Redmond with 23 seconds left sealed the win for CCU.
The Evangels got off to a good start in the opening half, jumping out to a 14-4 lead and maintaining that 10-point lead at 30-20 at the 6:13 mark.
At that point the Cougars got going as eight points from Joey Trinkle sparked a 15-1 run that put CCU on top 35-31.
After Reggie Davis scored for the Evangels, Weaver hit two free throws and Trinkle sank a jumper to give the Cougars a 39-33 lead at the break.
The Cougars continued to open it up in the second half as Weaver hit two straight threes that stretched the lead to 10 at 47-37 at the 16:33 mark.
Davis then converted a four-point play and nailed another trey before Semar Farris connected from three-point distance to tie the score.
The Evangels kept the run going on a layup from Angelo Lewis and another score from Farris to cap the 14-0 run that put MACU in front 51-47 with 12:40 to go.
Weaver again got hot with three treys along with a three-point play to power a 12-2 burst that gave the Cougars a six-point lead of 59-53.
Davis led the Evangels with 22 points and Minner scored 18 along with a team-high seven rebounds. Lewis scored 17 and Josh Smith added 10.
Weaver's 47 points came on 12-of-18 shooting overall, 8-of-13 from the perimeter and 15-of-16 at the charity stripe. Trinkle scored 26 and recorded a game-high 12 boards.
The Cougars will face the winner of tonight's Southern Nazarene University and Dallas Baptist University tilt in the championship game tomorrow (Mar. 15) at 4 p.m.
