Chickasha, Okla. -- Semar Farris scored a game-high 26 points to power the Mid-America Christian University Evangels to their 10th win in their last 12 games, an 85-67 victory in a Sooner Athletic Conference matchup today (Feb. 14) in Chickasha, Okla.
The win also keeps the Evangels atop the SAC with an 11-3 conference record, one game in front of Wayland Baptist University.
The Evangels trailed 9-7 early on before Brock Hunter scored seven points to spark a 12-2 run that put MACU on top by eight at the 13:52 mark of the first half.
MACU continued to stretch the lead and built it to 17 on a layup from Hunter that made it 33-16 with 6:57 left in the half.
After the Drovers whittled the lead down to nine on three occasions, the Evangels closed the half strong by outscoring USAO 12-1 over the final 2:13 of the half to take a commanding 52-32 lead at the break.
The second stanza was all Evangels (18-8, 11-3 SAC), as they led by at least 14 the entire half and then rode a 16-2 burst to take their largest lead of the game at 71-43 with 8:43 left.
The closest the Drovers could climb from that point was the final 18-point margin.
Farris' 26 point total came on an efficient 7-of-11 from the field, 6-of-8 from the perimeter and a perfect 6-of-6 at the charity stripe in addition to four rebounds and four steals. Jarius Wilson scored 15 and Josh Smith tallied 12 points along with a team-high seven boards. Hunter chipped in with 11 points.
Markens Charles led the Drovers with 15 points, with Daven Ottley recording 13 points and a game-high eight rebounds. Donnie Brown added 10 points for the Drovers (6-15, 5-9 SAC).
The Evangels' offense clicked to a 50 percent (31-of-62) shooting clip, while limiting the Drovers to only 34.4 percent (22-of-64) and 16.7 percent (4-of-24) from three-point distance.
MACU will look to keep rolling next Thursday night (Feb. 19) at Oklahoma Baptist University. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. in Shawnee, Okla. The Evangels defeated OBU 92-75 in the season's first meeting on Jan. 24.
