CHICKASHA, Okla. – Senior guard Ashford Golden scored a career-high 39 points to rally the No. 3 Mid-America Christian men's basketball team from a 14-point first half deficit, coming away with a 98-86 road victory at the University of Science & Arts on Friday night.
In its last game of 2019, Mid-America Christian (11-0, 3-0 Sooner Athletic Conference) had to overcome its second straight game where it trailed at the half, but the Evangels once again made some strong adjustments at the half to complete the comeback.
Golden's 39-point effort came off a blistering 12-for-15 shooting from the field, including 7-for-9 from the three-point arc and 8-for-10 from the foul line. The Oklahoma City native also recorded his second consecutive double-double, ripping down 11 rebounds while also tallying a season-high three blocked shots.
The Evangels also got a strong contribution from junior forward Marvin Lowe off the bench, scoring a career-high 21 points on 8-for-8 from the field and 5-for-8 from the charity stripe.
Science & Arts (6-6, 1-2 SAC) caught fire right out of the gate. After Golden put through the first score of the game 13 seconds in, the Drovers went on a 13-3 run over the next 3:13 to grab the early 13-5 advantage.
The Evangels were able to keep within striking distance over the next five minutes as a Damarius Brooks bucket whittled the USAO advantage down to 25-21, but the Drovers swung back with seven unanswered to stretch its lead back to 32-21 with 9:30 left until the half.
Mid-America Christian was able to bring the deficit back to single digits three times over the next four minutes, but a Stephon Hall four-point play followed by a Colen Gaynor free throw with 5:13 left gave the Drovers its largest lead of the game at 41-27.
With five minutes remaining, Terrance Jones ignited a 9-0 run with a pull-up jumper from 18-feet out while Golden caught fire with back-to-back three-point bombs, trimming the deficit to 41-36 with 3:33 until the half.
A Moses Byekwaso three on the ensuing possession pushed the USAO lead back to eight, but Golden answered once again with another triple followed by a fastbreak layup off a Tony Dorsey steal, narrowing the USAO lead to just 44-41 with 1:27 remaining.
Following another Byekwaso three, Golden was able to cut the deficit to four with a pair of free throws with four seconds left, but the Drovers went into the locker room with the momentum when Byekwaso hit a pull-up jumper from the left wing at the buzzer to make it a 49-43 Drovers edge at the half.
The Evangels came out of the break firing on all cylinders as a Dorsey three-pointer started a huge MACU run. Mid-America Christian took lead for good with 18:25 left when Golden made a beautiful shot fake at the top of the key to get the defender off his feet before taking a quick dribble to his left and pulling up for another three-pointer, making it a 50-49 game.
MACU continued to pour on the run with a pair of Cedric Wright free throws and layup followed by a D'von Moore capping the 14-1 run through the first four minutes with a triple, extending the MACU edge to 57-50 and force the Drovers to call a timeout.
USAO quickly closed to gap to three with a pair of scores over the next minute, but back-to-back scores by Lowe after Dorsey knocked down two free throws thwarted the comeback to push the lead back out to 63-56 with 13:48 left.
The Drovers hung around over the next few minutes, trimming their deficit to three at 65-62 with 12 minutes remaining, but Lowe and Golden continued to be a force, combining to score all seven during a 7-2 run to push the advantage back out to 71-64 with 9:16 on the clock.
Science & Arts kept the game to within a few possess as a pair of Trenton Sandifer free throws closed the gap to 75-71 with 6:13 left, but the Evangels countered with an 8-2 run over the next 2:13 to take its first double-digit lead of the contest at 83-73 off a Brooks basket.
Mid-America Christian led by no less than seven the rest of the way as its largest lead came at the end when Golden buried a long-range three-pointer to beat the shot clock with six seconds left to secure the 98-86 victory.
After shooting 50 percent from the field in the first half, the Evangels were nearly unstoppable in the second half, scoring its 55 second half points off 18-for-25 (72 percent) shooting, 5-of-9 (55.6 percent) from the three-point arc and 14-for-18 (77.8 percent) from the foul line.
MACU was just as strong on the defensive end, holding the Drovers to just 11-for-31 (35.5 percent) from the field and held one of the nation's best three-point shooting teams to just 2-for-12 (16.7 percent) in the second half.
Jones led the Evangels with five assists while Dorsey was the team's best on-ball defender with three steals in the game.
The 39 points scored by Golden was the most points an Evangel had scored in a single game since Angelo Lewis poured in 39 in a 97-95 overtime loss to Bacone College on Nov. 14, 2013.
Mid-America Christian will be looking for a different result against the Braves when the Evangels return to action on Thursday, Jan. 2, 2020. MACU will open the new year against Bacone in Muskogee, Okla. The game is slated for an 8 p.m. tip-off at the Palmer Center.
