Shawnee, Okla. -- The Mid-America Christian University Evangels couldn't get over the hump against the Oklahoma Baptist University Bison in a 92-88 loss in the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament semifinals Friday evening (Mar. 7) at the Noble Complex on the campus of OBU in Shawnee, Okla. 

The Evangels will now hope for an at-large bid when the NAIA National Tournament pairings are announced next Wednesday (Mar. 12).  

MACU stayed close throughout but never led after the 13:23 mark of the first half. 

The Evangels trailed 47-42 at the break but drew even three times in the second half, with the last being on two free throws by Josh Minner that made it 58-58 with 13:45 remaining. 

A three-point play by Cale Jackson then put the Bison ahead for good and OBU stretched the lead to eight with 9:50 left. 

The Evangels kept battling and came within two twice over the next two minutes on buckets by Semar Farris and Reggie Davis, but each time OBU had an answer to fend them off. 

OBU again built the lead back to eight on a score from Aaron Abram at the 4:36 mark of the second half that made it 80-72. 

Farris kept the Evangels alive by nailing two from the perimeter that made it a two-point game with 27 seconds left, but OBU was clutch at the foul line and made all four free throws from that point to hold the Evangels off. 

Angelo Lewis led the Evangels with 24 points along with eight rebounds, while Farris scored 21 with four assists. Davis scored 15 and Minner had 13 and also had eight boards. 

Jackson had a team-high 21 for the Bison, who will play Wayland Baptist University tomorrow night for the SAC championship. Abram and Hayden Darst each scored 20, while Kendall Parks had a triple-double of 15 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds. 

The Bison shot 50.9 percent (27-of-53) for the game, including a blazing 64 percent (16-of-25) in the opening half.  OBU also shot 80.5 percent at the charity stripe (33-of-41), compared to only 58.3 percent (14-of-24) for the Evangels.