MUSKOGEE, Okla. – The Mid-America Christian University men's basketball team entered their final road game of the 2017-18 Sooner Athletic Conference season knowing they needed a victory to build momentum into a difficult four game home stand to end the season. MACU gave themselves an opportunity to earn that victory, but when the final horn sounded, they had only a bitter defeat to their credit.
MACU (14-10, 8-8 SAC) held a four point lead in the final seconds of regulation, but Bacone (5-10, 1-14 SAC) rallied to force overtime, and in the extra session the Warriors overcame another late MACU lead to take the win 97-93.
MACU started slowly on the offensive end of the floor, and Bacone applied pressure as well, creating an opportunity to build a modest lead early. Jarrett Murphy made a free throw at the 15:47 mark to give Bacone a six point lead at 10-4, and just over three minutes later, Murphy scored again to give Bacone a 16-9 lead. MACU fought back, though, putting together a an 11-4 run capped off by a pair of Jordan Rhodes free throws to tie the game at 20 with 9:56 to play. Just 30 seconds later, Cade Upshaw buried a 3-pointer to give MACU its first lead of the night, but the Evangels were unable to stretch that lead out and Bacone quickly regrouped. MACU lead by three with 6:22 to go in the half, but the Warriors went off on a 10-0 run in just under two minutes, restoring their seven point lead, and at intermission, Bacone led the game 39-33.
The Warriors scored the first four points of the second half, pushing their advantage to 10 points at 43-33 with just 38 seconds elapsed in the stanza. The margin remained basically unchanged during the opening six minutes of the second half, but with 14:04 to play, Keyshawn Perkins made a pair of free throws to cut the deficit to 54-48, and MACU began to whittle away. Andre Horne connected from downtown at the 11:02 mark to pull MACU within four at 61-57, and despite Bacone pushing the lead back out to eight, the Evangels kept coming. Chinua Massena knocked down a triple with 4:12 to play that pulled MACU within three at 75-72, and on the next trip for the Evangels, Upshaw nailed his third 3-pointer of the game to knot the score at 75 with 3:23 to play.
With 1:53 to go, Javan Perry scored in the paint to give MACU the 79-77 lead, and after Jordan McNellys tied the game for Bacone with 1:04 to play, Perry answered with a 3-pointer to give MACU the 82-79 edge. The Evangels had a chance to seal the game at the free throw line, but a pair of missed charity tosses proved costly as Bacone got a 3-point play from McNellys with 13 seconds to go, and Kevin Pritchett tied the game with .6 seconds to go, sending the game to overtime tied at 84.
Bacone opened the scoring in the overtime session on a 3-pointer from McNellys, but at the 3:48 mark, Massena buried another 3-pointer to tie things up at 89. Perkins scored at the 3:11 mark to give MACU the 91-89 lead, but the Evangels were unable to hold on. Pritchett wrestled the lead back for the Warriors at the 2:28 mark, and he scored again at 1:18 to push Bacone's lead to three at 94-91. Daniel William cut the deficit to one at 94-93 with 34 seconds to go, but Bacone scored the game's final three points, taking the 97-94 win.
Both teams had five players score in double figures. MACU was led offensively by William, who netted 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Horne and Perkins each scored 14 – with Perkins adding six assists – and Massena and Rhodes each had 11. MACU made 33-of-78 (42.3%) shots in the game, and they were 10-for-33 (30.3%) from distance. At the foul line, MACU made 17-of-22 (77.3%) charity tosses in the game.
The Evangels have little time to think about the loss, as they are back in action at home on Monday night. MACU will welcome the University of Science & Arts of Oklahoma (19-6, 10-6 SAC) – the NAIA's Seventh-Ranked team. The game is slated to tip-off at 8 p.m.
