WAXAHACHIE, Texas – For the Mid-America Christian University men's basketball team, their game on Saturday afternoon at Southwestern Assemblies of God University looked eerily similar to their game at home on Thursday night. Unfortunately for MACU, the result was the same as well.
MACU (12-8, 6-6 SAC) dominated the second half of the game against SAGU (13-7, 7-5 SAC), but the Evangels faced as much as a 19-point deficit late in the first half, and the margin proved too great, as the Lions held on for the win, 80-74.
MACU scored first in the game, but SAGU scored 11 straight points to take a 9-point lead with 16:37 to play in the half. Seven consecutive points from the Evangels cut the deficit to 11-9, but SAGU began to pull away. The Lions pushed their lead to seven, and with SAGU leading 29-22 with 7:01 to go, SAGU scored seven straight points to double their lead. The lead swelled to 19 before Keyshawn Perkins converted a layup to cut MACU's halftime deficit to 43-26.
SAGU got the margin back to 19 twice early in the second half, but beginning with a Justin Bogle 3-pointer at the 15:08 mark, MACU scored nine straight points to cut their deficit to nine points at 53-44. The Lions edged the lead back out to 15 with 9:28 to play, but another MACU run – this one a 12-4 spurt – pulled the Evangels to within seven on a Therence Mayimba bucket with 6:09 to go in the game. Perkins pulled MACU to within four at 71-67 with 3:41 to go, and 40 seconds later, Javan Perry buried a second chance 3-pointer to get the Evangels within a single possession at 73-70. In the dying seconds, MACU had opportunities to continue their charge, but three blocks from Remington Mitchell and a pair of missed free throws kept the Evangels from completing the comeback, as SAGU took the win 80-74.
MACU had four players in double-figures, led by Perkins and Andre Horne with 15 points apiece. Perry scored 14, and Mayimba added 10 in the game. Mayimba and Perkins each had a team-leading nine rebounds, and Perkins dished out four assists. MACU made 38.2% (26-of-68) shots in the game, including 38.1% (8-of-21) from beyond the arc. At the charity stripe, MACU was 14-for-18 (77.8%) in the game.
MACU will continue their 3-game road trip on Thursday, February 1 when they head north to McPherson, Kansas to take on the Central Christian College Tigers (11-9, 4-8 SAC) at 8 p.m.
