OKLAHOMA CITY -- Jerrick Massenburge put in 17 of his team-high 20 points in the second half to help the No. 12-ranked Mid-America Christian University Evangels overcome a 19-point second-half deficit and defeat the No. 25-ranked Oklahoma City University Stars 78-76 tonight (Feb. 4) in a Sooner Athletic Conference matchup at Abe Lemons Arena on the OCU campus.
The Evangels were down by 10 at the half and fell behind 54-35 as the Stars opened the second half with nine straight points, fueled by two straight threes from Terence Bonhomme.
Chris Runnels helped the Evangels claw back with a three-point play and then two free throws to cut the OCU lead to 14, but the Stars held off the Evangels much of the way until Massenburge caught fire in the final 4:36 of the game.
With the OCU lead at 70-59, Massenburge hit four threes over the next 2:09 and Nick Tate capped a 14-2 run that gave the Evangels their first lead since the 5:34 mark of the opening half.
After the Stars managed to take a 75-74 lead with 57 seconds left, Massenburge was fouled shooting a three and made two at the charity stripe to put the Evangels back on top with 42 seconds left.
The Evangels then got a stop defensively and Ex'Zavia Seaton split a pair at the line that made it a two-point game with 11 seconds left.
OCU got the ball back and Jamil Donovan drew a foul and went to the line with a chance to tie it up, but made only one of two that left the Evangels still with a one-point lead.
Tate also split two free throws that left the Evangels up only two, but a missed three-point attempt by Lou Dunbar in the final seconds allowed MACU to hold on for the victory.
The first half was tight most of the way until the Stars outscored the Evangels 18-7 over the final 5:34 to lead 45-35 at the break.
Massenburge tied his career-high by hitting 6-of-11 from beyond the arc. Bryon Miller scored 15 on 6-of-7 overall from the field and Runnels chipped in with 13 points. Seaton led the Evangels (18-5, 8-3 SAC) with a game-high 10 rebounds.
Bonhomme led all scorers with 34 points for the Stars (10-7, 7-4 SAC), while Dorion Gigger also scored in double-figures with 11 points.
The Evangels held a 36-33 edge in overall rebounding, but a 16-9 advantage for the Stars on the offensive glass led to 22 more field-goal attempts for the game.
MACU shot 53.7 percent (22-of-41) overall from the floor and after allowing a 48.4 percent (15-of-31) clip by OCU in the opening half, the Evangels clamped down and limited the Stars to only 28.1 percent (9-of-32) shooting in the second half.
The Evangels will next host St. Gregory's University Saturday afternoon (Feb. 6) at 5 p.m. inside the Gaulke Activity Center. MACU bested SGU 105-96 in Shawnee, Okla. in the first meeting this season back on Jan. 16.
