The Lowdown: St. Gregory's University @ No. 10 Mid-America Christian University
Time: Jan. 7 @ 5 p.m.
Location: Gaulke Activity Center, Oklahoma City, Okla.
Live Video:
Live Stats:
The Dish on the Evangels: The No. 10-ranked Mid-America Christian University Evangels dropped their first Sooner Athletic Conference game Thursday night (Jan. 5), 100-90 at No. 5-ranked Oklahoma City University. The loss moved the Evangels to 10-4 overall and 2-1 in the SAC.
A pivotal point of the contest came when the Evangels took a 53-50 lead on a tip-in by Devonse Reed, only to have the Stars rip off a 16-1 run over the next 3:18 to go up by double-figures at 66-54 with 13:20 left.
The Evangels tried to claw back, twice coming as close as five, once on a three by Olajuwon Garner and then on a jumper from Ex'Zavia Seaton that cut the lead to 78-73 with 9:22 left.
But five straight points Xavier Smith thwarted the Evangels' push and ignited a 13-4 spurt that gave the Stars' their biggest lead of the night at 91-77 at the 5:31 mark.
The Evangels had one more run in them, as a bucket by Chris Bates capped an 8-1 burst that again brought MACU within five at 95-90 with 47 seconds left.
The Stars though held the Evangels scoreless the rest of the way and Jonathan Reed hit three-of-four at the charity stripe followed by a layup to finish the win for OCU.
Garner leads the Evangels in scoring (16.6 ppg) and leads both the SAC and NAIA with 54 threes on the season. He is also first in the SAC and 12th in the NAIA in three-point percentage (.495).
Tyler Chaisson is scoring 14.7 ppg and Reed is at 12.2 ppg. Seaton is also averaging double-figure scoring with 10.6 ppg along with a team-high 8.4 rebounds a game. Mann is second in the SAC and fifth in the NAIA with 5.7 assists per game.
Also, Seaton is seventh in the NAIA in defensive rebounds per game (7.3).
As a team, the Evangels are all over the map in the NAIA rankings. MACU is tops in scoring offense per game (97.8 ppg), second in defensive rebounds per game (34.4) and free-throw percentage (.760), third in assists per game (20.3), fourth in threes per game (10.7), sixth in total rebounds per game (45.5) and 10th in scoring margin (20.0).
The Dish on the Cavaliers: The St Gregory's University Cavaliers dropped their fourth straight game Thursday night (Jan. 5), an 85-77 home setback to Southwestern Assemblies of God University to fall to 4-6 overall and 0-3 in the SAC.
Rodney Smith has team-highs for the Cavaliers in both points per game (20.2 ppg) and assists (40) this season. Meanwhile, Tyler Tucker is second in scoring (18.7 ppg) and leads the team with 7.2 rebounds per game. Jordan Rutherford is right behind with 18.1 ppg and 6.9 rpg.
Smith is also 10th in the NAIA in free-throw percentage (.900) and 12th in points per game.
The Cavaliers rank fourth in the NAIA in free-throw percentage (.752).
The Series: The Evangels have had their way with the Cavaliers since joining the NAIA. MACU has won 15 of the 18 meetings with SGU, including both meetings last season.
The Coaches:
In his first season at the helm of the Mid-America Christian University Evangel men's basketball program, head coach Josh Gamblin made a historic, immediate impact. Gamblin guided the Evangels to their first-ever NAIA National Championship, capping off the memorable title run with a thrilling, 100-99 overtime victory over then No. 1-ranked Georgetown (Ky.). In the process, Gamblin become the youngest coach (27 years old) in college basketball history to win a national championship at a four-year institution.
Following the championship triumph, Gamblin was named the 2015-16 Rawlings-NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Coach of the Year. His character influence was also felt throughout the year, culminating with the program receiving the Dr. James Naismith-Emil S. Liston Sportsmanship award at the conclusion of the NAIA National Tournament.
Overall, Gamblin is 38-13 as head coach of the Evangels.
Recently, Gamblin had the privilege of speaking at the Nike Championship Basketball Clinic on the campus of Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Okla. Gamblin presented the topic "Covering the Pick and Roll" to attendees and was joined by other premier coaches and players from around the U.S., including coaches Lon Kruger and Sherri Coale from the University of Oklahoma and retired NBA center Swen Nater.
Gamblin came to MACU from the University of Oklahoma, where he was a Graduate Assistant Coach under Head Coach Lon Kruger. There he assisted in all practices and logged scout games. Gamblin also worked with coaches on opponent scouting reports for a squad that advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament last season.
Prior to arriving at OU, Gamblin served two-years at Southwestern Christian University (SCU) as lead Assistant Coach on Head Coach Quinn Wooldridge's staff. Gamblin's duties at SCU involved recruiting, leading film sessions and analyzing opponent's scouting reports.
During the 2011-12 basketball season, Gamblin worked in the NBA as the Intern Video Coordinator for the Los Angeles Clippers under then-Head Coach Vinny Del Negro. Gamblin helped prepare pre-game scouting reports for the Clippers, as well as logging all opponent games and being involved in coaches meetings. His efforts with the Clippers led to the best winning percentage in team history.
Off the court, Gamblin has served as Clippers' All-Star Forward Blake Griffin's Summer Basketball Trainer for the past three seasons. Gamblin helped Griffin prepare for upcoming basketball seasons by working on a number of offensive and defensive drills—specifically pick and roll coverages, low post moves and ball handling drills.
Gamblin's collegiate-athlete experience includes, but not limited to: competed at SCU on the Men's Basketball team from 2007-11; Varsity Captain (twice); named SCU Male Newcomer of the Year in 2008; and selected as Team MVP for the 2011 season. Additional honors include: Association of Christian College Athletics (ACCA) Honorable-Mention All-America honors in 2010; a Midlands Collegiate Athletic All-Conference selection in 2011; and named "Mr. Southwestern" in 2011, (awarded to the student who exemplifies the values, traditions and spirit of SCU). After the 2011 season, Gamblin received the Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference Scholar Athlete award.
He graduated from SCU in 2011 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and is currently enrolled in the IAA Master's program at the University of Oklahoma.
Gamblin and his wife Jennifer live in Oklahoma City with their one-year old son Miles.
Dylan Lemley is in his first season at the helm of the St. Gregory's University Cavaliers. Prior to being named head coach, Lemley was an assistant coach in the 2015-16 season. Lemley is familiar with the Cavaliers, having played at SGU for three seasons and earned the SAC Freshman of the Year honor in 2010-11.
Up Next: The Evangels will host Wayland Baptist University next Thursday night (Jan. 12) at 8 pm.
Evangels on Social Media: Follow all the happenings of MACU Athletics on Facebook and Twitter!
Catch the Evangels On the Air: All MACU men's and women's home basketball games are LIVE at the link below. Click HERE to tune in to Alex Freedman (the voice of the OKC Dodgers) as the "Voice of the Evangels" to call all the action!
