OKLAHOMA CITY – Depth plays a key role in the sport of Basketball, and on Saturday night at the Gaulke Activity Center was on full display. Unfortunately for Mid-America Christian University's men's basketball team, the Evangels were on the short end of that equation.
Southwestern Christian University (18-12, 11-9 SAC) out-scored MACU (18-11, 11-9 SAC) 30-19 off the bench, and the Eagles out-rebounded the Evangels 36-21 in the game, as SCU took the season series sweep from MACU, 83-79.
MACU quickly built an 8-4 lead in the early going in the first half, but SCU quickly surged in front. After the lead changed hands twice, SCU went on an 8-0 run to claim a 17-10 lead just shy of the halfway point in the opening stanza. MACU battled to close the gap, using a 13-6 run to tie the score at 23 with 6:41 remaining in the half. In the final six minutes of the first half, MACU and SCU were tied six times, but the Evangels never reclaimed the lead, and at the half, SCU led 42-39.
SCU opened the second half on an 11-2 run to push their lead out to a dozen with just 3:22 elapsed in the second frame. MACU tried to fight back, but they made little progress through the early and middle stages of the half. Jordan Rhodes converted a traditional 3-point play with 15:18 left on the clock to cut the deficit to seven at 54-47, but SCU quickly recovered and stretched the margin back into double-digits. SCU took their largest lead of the game at the 7:23 mark when Trevar Mayon scored to put SCU up 69-56, but the Evangels dug deep for one last run.
As the clock wound down, Justin Bogle made a pair of free throws to cut the deficit under 10 for good at 76-67 with 2:47 to play. On MACU's next possession, Chinua Massena buried a 3-pointer to trim the deficit to 76-70, and with 10 seconds to play, Rhodes scored a transition bucket to pull MACU to within three at 82-79. The clock, however, had run too far down, and SCU held on for the 83-79 victory.
Massena led the Evangels with 19 points in the contest, and Rhodes added 17 points and nine rebounds. Bogle scored 15 points in the game, and Keyshawn Perkins (8) and Javan Perry (9) narrowly missed double-figures, with Perkins dishing out a game high six assists. The Evangels made 30-of-58 (51.7%) shots from the floor in the game, including 9-of-18 (50%) from deep. MACU also shot well from the foul line, but they had precious few opportunities at the charity stripe, making 10-of-12 (83.3%) attempts – all of which came in the second half.
MACU has locked up the seventh seed in the upcoming Sooner Athletic Conference tournament, which means the Evangels will be on the road on Tuesday night in the SAC quarterfinal round. Their opponent is still to be determined, as it will rely on the result of the last game remaining in the SAC regular season schedule – a tilt between Texas Wesleyan University and Oklahoma City University on Sunday afternoon. A win for OCU would send MACU across town to Abe Lemons Arena for the quarterfinal, while a TWU win would pit MACU against Southwestern Assemblies of God University in the quarterfinal. The bracket will be officially announced by the SAC office on Sunday.
