MCPHERSON, Kan. – After tying the program's NAIA era win streak record against Langston on Thursday, the No. 18 Mid-America Christian men's basketball team surpassed it at Central Christian on Saturday by grinding out a hard-fought 91-81 victory to move to 9-0 on the season.

Senior forward Cedric Wright dominated in the low post for the Evangels, scoring a career-high 32 points on 14-of-16 from the floor to go with a team-high six rebounds and two steals. Four Evangels broke into double-figures with Terrance Jones and Tony Dorsey scoring 12 points apiece while Ashford Golden added 11.

Mid-America Christian (9-0, 2-0 Sooner Athletic Conference) faced a similar predicament as their Thursday night game, the Evangels got off to a slow start with Central Christian (6-2, 0-2 SAC) jumping out to a 16-8 lead through the first five minutes.

The Evangels managed to right the ship quickly behind a Wright bucket in the paint to start an 8-0 run, followed by three-point bombs by Dominick Ford and D'von Moore to tie the game up at 16-all with 13:27 to go until the half.

After trading leads over the next few minutes, the Tigers were able to push back in-front with seven unanswered to reclaim a 28-21 edge at the 10:30 mark.

With the Tigers holding a 34-30 lead with 8:36 left, Wright jumpstarted the Evangels offense with back-to-back lay-ins to start a string of 12 unanswered points. Wright tallied 10 of those 12 himself to give the Evangels the 42-34 advantage with 5:07 to go until the half.

MACU stretched its edge to as much as nine on a Tony Dorsey three-pointer with 2:55 left to set the score at 49-40, but the Tigers closed out the half with a 6-1 run to reduce the MACU lead to 50-46 at the break.

The Evangels were nearly unstoppable on the offensive end in the opening half, shooting 19-for-27 (70.4 percent) and 6-for-12 (50 percent) from three-point range, but the Tigers were able to hang right with them, converting on 16-of-28 (57.1 percent) from the field and 7-for-12 (58.3 percent) from beyond the arc.

Calon Woodson buried a pair of early three-pointers in the second half in response to two CCC three to keep the MACU lead at four. After the Tigers Torrey Henry and Wright traded buckets to keep the game at a stalemate, the offensive pace slowed for the Evangels as Central Christian slowly worked its way back.

The Tigers eventually reclaimed the lead with 11:25 left, but Ashford Golden had an immediate response with a layin to give MACU the edge back at 64-63. On the ensuing possession, CCC's Isaiah Rivera gave the Tigers the lead back with a three-point play.

On the offensive end, Jones almost single-handedly got MACU back in control as he scored the Evangels next six points from the foul line during a 6-2 run to give MACU the 70-68 edge.

The Evangels were able to maintain a one-point lead until two more Jones free throws followed by a Wright three-point play in the low post gave Mid-America Christian some breathing room at 77-71 with 5:29 to play.

After the Tigers trimmed their deficit to 79-75 with just under four to go, Wright responded with a layup of his own on the other end while Ford helped push the advantage out to nine with four consecutive free throw makes during a 6-1 run, setting the score to 85-76 with 2:44 left.

Central Christian managed to trim the MACU lead to four once more with 1:14 remaining, but Mid-America Christian continued to dominate from the free throw line in the final minute, as Dorsey and Golden combined to make all six attempts. The MACU defense also clamped down, not allowing a single CCC point in the final 1:14 to pull away with the 91-81 win.

The Evangels slightly cooled off in the second half, shooting 10-for-19 (52.6 percent) and went 2-for-5 (40 percent) from three, but did a lot of damage from the line by going 19-for-25 (76 percent). The Evangels played a clean game on the offensive end, giving up just 11 turnovers, the fourth time this season MACU has committed 11 or fewer turnovers in their first nine games.

Jones was particularly sharp from the line as eight of his 12 points came on 8-for-8 from the foul line while knocking down 2-of-4 from the floor and tied Wright with a team-best six rebounds. Dorsey's 12 points came on 4-for-7 from the field and 2-for-4 from the arc while also dishing out a team-high three assists. Golden finished 3-for-7 while also going 4-for-4 from the charity stripe for his 11 points.

Mid-America Christian will be off for the Thanksgiving break before returning to the floor on Tuesday, Dec. 3 as the Evangels will head to Texarkana, Texas for a rematch against Texas A&M-Texarkana. The game is slated for an 8 p.m. tip-off.