Muskogee, Okla. – The No. 14-ranked Mid-America Christian University Evangels took control early and defeated the Bacone College Warriors 97-76 tonight (Feb. 25) in Muskogee, Okla.

The victory allows the Evangels to clinch the second spot in the Sooner Athletic Conference with a 12-5 conference mark. MACU is one game ahead of Oklahoma City University with one game remaining and holds the tiebreaker due to a season sweep of OCU.  

With the Warriors holding an early 5-2 lead, Devonse Reed and Bryon Miller promptly combined to score 14 points of a 16-0 spurt that gave the Evangels an 18-5 lead at the 15:16 mark of the opening half.

The Evangels then twice pushed the lead to 21 and was still ahead by 17 when the Warriors climbed back into it with a 9-1 spurt to end the half and come within 47-38 at the break.

After the Warriors scored the first bucket of the second half, Nick Tate took over and scored 12 points to ignite a 20-1 burst over the next seven minutes that gave the Evangels a commanding 67-41 edge with 12:14 remaining.

The Warriors slowly trimmed the lead to 16 on two occasions, but Chris Runnels scored the first seven points of a decisive 12-1 run that gave MACU its largest lead of the game at 94-67 with 3:41 left.

Tate paced the Evangels (22-7, 12-5 SAC) with 21 points, while Runnels posted a double-double of 19 points and a career-high tying 11 rebounds. The Evangels also got 13 points each from Reed and Jerrick Massenburge along with a team-high four assists from Malcolm Mann.

Brandon Chatman led the Warriors (3-25, 2-15 SAC) with 21 points and seven boards, while hitting six-of-10 from the perimeter.

The Evangels controlled the interior to the tune of a 48-38 edge in rebounding and a 13-7 advantage in second chance points.

The regular season finale is next for the Evangels on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 27) at Southwestern Assemblies of God University. Tip-off is set for 5 p.m. in Waxahachie, Texas.