OKLAHOMA CITY – In the final 20 minutes of their game on Thursday evening, the Mid-America Christian University men's basketball team fought furiously to try and erase a first half deficit against Texas Wesleyan University. Unfortunately for the Evangels, MACU's comeback ran out of time, and the Evangels came up just short.
MACU (12-7, 6-5 SAC) made only seven first half field goals, including only one 3-pointer, and they were unable to erase a 21-point halftime deficit, as Texas Wesleyan (14-6, 8-3 SAC) hung on late for the 80-71 victory.
Therence Mayimba scored the game's first six points, and the Evangels attacked the basket aggressively in the early going. MACU got to the foul line 14 times in the first 12:40 of the game, and the Evangels made 13 of those foul shots, but on the other end of the floor, Texas Wesleyan was shooting extremely well, and with 7:20 to play, MACU trailed 28-22. That's when Texas Wesleyan took control, holding MACU off the scoreboard for 4:21, embarking on a 15-0 run to take a 21-point lead, and at the half, Texas Wesleyan held a commanding 49-28 lead.
For much of the first 10 minutes of the second half, MACU was unable to make a dent in the margin, however in the middle stages of the stanza, MACU began to whittle away. A 3-pointer from Justin Bogle at 10:18 knocked the deficit under 20 for the final time. Back-to-back buckets from Jordan Rhodes in a 28 second span helped MACU close the gap to 72-58 with 7:50 to play, and those two baskets sparked a 9-0 MACU run that pulled the Evangels within nine at 72-63with 5:19 to go. MACU eventually pulled to within seven on a made free throw from Keyshawn Perkins with 1:19 to play, but that is as close as MACU was able to get, as the Rams scored three of the game's final four points, taking the win 80-71.
Jordan Rhodes earned his first double-double of the season with 19 points and 12 rebounds in the game. Rhodes also added six assists and two blocks in the game. Mayimba scored 11 points in the game, while Bogle and Javan Perry each added 10, and Bogle posted a game-high four blocked shots. MACU was 21-for-52 (40.4%) from the floor in the game, but they struggled mightily from long range, making only 4-of-24 (16.7%) attempts from beyond the arc. At the charity stripe, MACU was excellent, as they made 25-of-30 (83.3%) attempts in the game.
MACU will begin a critical 3-game road trip on Saturday, as they attempt to stay within striking distance in the Sooner Athletic Conference race. The trip gets underway on Saturday when the Evangels head south to take on the Southwestern Assemblies of God University Lions (12-7, 6-5 SAC) with tip-off slated for 5 p.m.
