OKLAHOMA CITY – The St. Gregory's University Cavaliers dealt the No. 10-ranked Mid-America Christian University Evangels a tough loss, 74-69 in a Sooner Athletic Conference matchup tonight (Jan. 7) inside the Gaulke Activity Center.
The Evangels led from the outset until the Cavaliers pulled even on a Rodney Smith bucket at the 11:52 mark of the second half that made it 48-48.
There would be two more ties until another score from Smith gave SGU its first lead of the game at 56-54 with 8:56 left.
It went back and forth from that point, with three more gridlocks until a free throw by Malik Barnett put the Cavaliers in front to stay, 63-62 at the 4:50 mark.
Smith then hit another shot before nailing a three to give the Cavaliers a four-point lead of 68-64 with 2:24 remaining.
Still down four with 1:14 left, the Evangels still had some fight left, as Malcolm Mann scored to cut the lead to two and following a turnover, Devonse Reed drew a foul but split a pair at the charity stripe to bring MACU within 70-69 with 38 seconds remaining.
But Jordan Rutherford hit two free throws for the Cavaliers and following an Evangel turnover, Kilder Gonzalez made two free throws to seal the win for SGU.
The Evangels came out strong, as an alley-oop from Mann to Keyshawn Perkins and threes from Mann and Reed made it 8-0 less than two minutes in.
Another trey by Mann extended the lead to double-figures at 15-5, but the Cavaliers used a 10-4 burst to come within four at the 11:24 mark of the opening half.
It was still a four-point lead when threes by Jordan Rhodes and Olajuwon Garner pushed the lead right back to a double-digit edge of 27-17.
The Cavaliers kept hanging around, again cutting the lead to four on five different occasions before the Evangels scored the final four points of the half to lead 42-34 at the break.
Reed led the Evangels (10-5, 2-2 SAC) with 18 points, with Mann scoring 14 and dishing out a game-high six assists. Ex'Zavia Seaton scored nine and pulled down a team-best eight rebounds.
Smith led all scorers with 24 points, while Rutherford scored 23 along with a team-high eight boards. Zachary Lemusu and Gonzalez each scored 10.
A huge key to the game came at the foul line, where the Cavaliers, ranked No. 4 in the NAIA in free-throw shooting percentage, made the most of their opportunities by sinking 31-of-35 at the charity stripe.
The Evangels will next be in action at home Tuesday afternoon (Jan. 10) at 4 pm against Crowley's Ridge College. The game is a makeup of the outing that was originally scheduled for Dec. 17 but postponed due to inclement weather.
