OKLAHOMA CITY – The Mid-America Christian men's basketball team will have some high expectations for the 2019-20 season as the Evangels were picked finish third in the Sooner Athletic Conference men's basketball pre-season poll released by the conference office on Wednesday.
MACU received 76 votes, two votes ahead of Southwestern Assemblies of God in fourth with 74 and just one vote back of Science & Arts at 77.
The Evangels are coming off a very successful 21-13 season as they qualified for the 2019 NAIA National Tournament for the first time since winning the 2016 NAIA National Championship. MACU won its first round game over Tougaloo (Miss.) 73-64 before dropping a 62-60 heartbreaker to semifinalist William Carey in the second round.
Despite getting off to a rocky start in SAC play last season with a 5-9 record, Mid-America Christian caught fire in the month of February by winning seven of its last eight games to finish conference play with a 12-10 record.
Of the MACU returners, junior guard Dominick Ford will be looking to take another big step in his game. As a sophomore, Ford was one of the most improved players on the squad, averaging 7.3 points per game on a 43.3 percent shooting clip and finishing second the team in rebounds with 151.
Even though the Evangels lost a lot of talent from last year's squad, MACU Head Coach Josh Gamblin has brought in a promising crop of talent for the 2019-20 season. Senior guard/forward Ashford Golden comes to MACU after a sensational season at Central Oklahoma, averaging 15.5 ppg on 45.5 percent shooting and an 80 percent rate from the foul line.
Cedric Wright will be looking to make his presence known on the low block for the Evangels. The redshirt senior forward who comes to Oklahoma City from Thomas University (Ga.) was an All-Sun Conference Second Team honoree after averaging 14 ppg on 54.7 percent shooting from the floor while ripping down 6.7 rebounds per game.
The Evangels also have high expectations of junior guard Tony Dorsey. The 6-foot guard from Murray State College scored at a 12.3 ppg clip while gunning a 31.8 percent rate from the three-point arc and 81.4 percent from the free throw line last season.
Mid-America Christian will open the regular season on Friday, Oct. 25 with a non-conference home game at 8 p.m. against Ecclesia College.
