MCPHERSON, Kan. – For the second consecutive day, the Mid-America Christian University men's basketball team found themselves in a barnburner at the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) central region tournament. The game was once again decided by a single point, but this time, the result went against the Evangels.
MACU (19-13) had a chance to grab the victory with .5 seconds left, but the Evangels were unable to get a shot off, and the Evangels fell to the College of the Ozarks (22-11) 73-72.
Andre Horne and Chinua Massena each connected on 3-pointers in the first 2:36 of the game as MACU took a quick 6-0 lead, and Zach Sawyer capped a 9-2 game opening run with a 3-pointer of his own at the 14:23 mark. Both defenses controlled the flow of the first half, and the Bobcats began to whittle away at the deficit slowly, eventually tying the game at 16 with 6:05 left in the first half. Ozarks opened a four point lead late in the first half, but MACU rallied to take a 25-23 lead on another tripe from Massena with 1:46 left in the first period. After a quick 5-0 run from the Bobcats gave them a 28-25 lead, MACU closed the half with five straight points of their own, and at the half, MACU led 30-28.
MACU opened a 39-31 lead early in the second half, but Ozarks answered with a 12-0 run to claim a 43-39 lead with 12:50 to play in the game. The margin stayed between three and six points in favor of the Bobcats for much of the second half, but late in the frame, a pair of technical free throws and a 3-pointer allowed Ozarks to push their lead to 65-56. The Evangels rallied to cut the lead to 70-68 in the final minute, and as the seconds wound down, the Evangels fell behind by five, but in the final second, Keyshawn Perkins scored a layup, then Cade Upshaw made a pair of technical free throws to cut the margin to 73-72 with the Evangels in possession of the basketball. Inbounding the ball from the sideline, MACU got off a lob play to the basket with .5 seconds remaining, but the play was shut down before MACU was able to get off a shot, and the Bobcats hung on for the win 73-72.
Massena finished with a game-high 20 points, and Horne added 14 points and three assists. Justin Bogle tallied nine points in the game, and he grabbed a team-leading eight rebounds while also notching three of the Evangels' eight blocked shots. As a team, MACU made 21-of-53 (39.6%) shots in the game, including 13-of-28 (46.4%) from beyond the arc. At the foul line, MACU was 17-for-22 (77.3%) in the contest.
Mid-America will now have to wait to see the bracket for the 2018 NCCAA Division I Men's Basketball National Championship, which will be announced on Saturday. The Evangels will need an at-large berth to qualify for the Championship, which will take place in Winona Lake, Indiana on the campus of Grace College from March 14-17.
