LANGSTON, Okla. - In their time in the NAIA, the Mid-America Christian University men's basketball team had never won consecutive true road games against NAIA top-25 competition.
That is, until Thursday night.
On the heels of a win at then-#21 John Brown University, MACU (11-6, 4-5 SAC) took control of their game at NAIA #8 Langston University (15-3, 7-3 SAC) early, and while Langston remained competitive, the Evangels played with poise and discipline all night as they upended the Lions 88-79.
Cade Upshaw opened the scoring just 26 seconds into the night with a long 3-pointer, and MACU's offense took off from there. A tip-in from Zach Sawyer with 15:57 to go in the opening half gave MACU a 10-4 lead, Justin Bogle buried a 3-pointer with 14:11 on the clock to push MACU's lead to seven, and a dunk from Daniel William with 10:43 to go in the half gave MACU their largest lead of the first frame, at 23-13.
Langston answered with a 15-4 run to take their first lead of the night at 28-27 with 5:46 to play in the opening stanza, but MACU answered quickly. The Lead changed hands several times in the final five minutes of the period, but with under 10 seconds to play in the opening half, Upshaw launched a deep 3-point rocket that gave MACU a 39-37 halftime advantage.
Langston quickly took the lead in the second half on a 3-pointer from Jorori Coleman, but again, MACU's defense kept the Lions in check. While Langston held the lead for most of the first six minutes of the period, MACU kept that lead from ever reaching three points, and with 13:53 to play, Javan Perry canned a deep jumper to give the Evangels a 53-50 lead. Moments later, a traditional 3-point play from Charles Beauregard, Jr. gave MACU the lead at 58-55, and the Evangels did not give that up the rest of the night.
In the waning moments, MACU not only held the lead, they stretched it out. The Evangels got the margin back to double figures with 4:42 to play on a 3-ball from Javan Perry, and Bogle added an exclaimation point with a deep triple with 1:38 to go that pushed MACU's lead to its largest margin of the night at 83-69, and MACU coasted home with the 88-79 win.
Bogle led the Evangels with 20 points and 10 rebounds, his fourth double-double of the season. Perry and Anthony Black each added a dozen, and Sawyer got into double-figures for the second straight game with 11. Perry led the Evangels with three assists, and Sawyer and Daniel William each grabbed eight boards in the game.
MACU connected on 31 of 63 (49.2%) shots in the game, including 9 of 27 (33.3%) from beyond the arc. The Evangels continued to shoot the ball well at the free throw line also, making 17 of 22 (77.3%) foul shots. MACU held a 43-40 edge on the glass, and they dominated in the painted area, out-scoring the Lions 40-22 in the lane.
MACU will try for their fourth win in a row on Saturday when they head north to take on the Central Christian College Tigers (9-8, 3-7 SAC) in McPherson, Kansas. The game is scheduled for 4 p.m.
