OKLAHOMA CITY – The No. 3 ranked Mid-America Christian men's basketball team will be aiming for its 10th straight victory as the Evangels travel to Texas A&M-Texarkana for a 6 p.m. tip on Tuesday, Dec. 3 before heading to Edinburg, Texas on Friday for a 7 p.m. exhibition game against NCAA Division I UT-Rio Grande Valley.
LAST TIME OUT
Mid-America Christian (9-0, 2-0 Sooner Athletic Conference) got off to a fast start to conference play with a 92-65 home victory over Langston on Nov. 21 before going on the road and picking up a 91-81 win at Central Christian on Nov. 23.
Against Langston, the Evangels had to overcome a slow start as they trailed 16-7 at the 11:55 mark in the first half, but senior guard D'von Moore caught fire by knocking down five straight three-pointers to guide MACU to a 42-29 halftime lead. Mid-America Christian continued to pull away in the second half, leading by as much as 31 before cruising to the 27-point victory. Moore led the Evangels with 24 points on 8-for-13 shooting, including 6-for-11 from beyond the three-point arc.
The Evangels faced a similar predicament against Central Christian as the Tigers jumped out to a 16-8 lead just five minutes in. However, the redshirt senior forward Cedric Wright was able to power a MACU comeback to guide the Evangels to a 50-46 advantage at the halftime break. The second half was a back-and-forth battle with neither team being able to pull away until Wright and Terrance Jones came up with some crucial scores with just under five minutes to push the lead out to six before eventually holding on for the win. Wright scored a career-high and a MACU season-high 32 points on 14-for-16 from the field.
SCOUTING THE EAGLES
Texas A&M-Texarkana enters Tuesday night's game with a 4-6 record. However, the Eagles are coming off a huge 85-81 upset over No. 13 University of Science & Arts back on Nov. 27. TAMUT is one of the top three-point shooting teams in the NAIA, ranking fourth with 121 made three-pointers and sixth with 12.1 made threes per game.
Leading the Texarkana scoring efforts is former John Brown guard Desmond Kennedy. The 6-3 senior is averaging 19.3 points per game and is shooting a blistering 41-of-87 (47.1 percent) from the three-point arc. Sophomore guard Connor Ouellette has also provided a challenge for opposing defenses, averaging 16.7 ppg while knocking down a team-high 42-for-53 (79.2 percent) from the charity stripe while being team's top rebounder at 7.7 boards per game. Ouellette has also led a defense that ranks fifth in total steals with a team-high 30, averaging three thefts per contest.
HISTORY WITH THE EAGLES
In their inaugural season, the Evangels were Texas A&M-Texarkana first ever opponent back on Oct. 28. Mid-America Christian was able to hold off a feisty effort from the Eagles in getting the 91-85 victory for their third win in four games. Carlos Slaughter provided a major spark off the MACU bench with a season-high 17 points on 7-of-9 from the field to lead a balanced scoring attack that saw eight players score seven or more points.
SCOUTING THE VAQUEROS
UT-Rio Grande Valley makes its way into Tuesday night with a 2-5 record as the Vaqueros are coming off a 55-52 home loss to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Saturday.
Senior guard Jordan Jackson leads the UTRGV scoring efforts at 16.3 ppg while knocking down a team-best 35-for-43 (81.4 percent) from the free throw line. Senior forward Lesley Varner II leads the team in rebounding at 6.1 rpg.
THE WRIGHT WAY
Few players in the country have been as strong in the low post as redshirt senior forward Cedric Wright. The Fort Lauderdale, Fla. product is currently the top shooter in the NAIA, knocking down 78 percent of his field goal attempts. Most impressively, the big man has not shot below 50 percent all season with his worst shooting performance coming all the way back on Oct. 26, when Wright went 7-for-12 (.571) to score 16 points against Manhattan Christian. In the win over Central Christian, Wright turned in a career-high for points (32), field goals made (14) and field goals attempted (16).
SKYROCKETING UP THE POLLS
Mid-America Christian received some major respect in the first NAIA Division I Poll last week since the preseason release on Oct. 23. The Evangels climbed 14 spots from No. 17 to a tie for third with Loyola (La.) with 198 votes, just 10 back of No. 2 The Master's (Calif.) and 21 behind No. 1 Georgetown (Ky.). The Evangels already have a notable NAIA Top 25 win on their resume when MACU defeated then No. 11 LSU Shreveport 103-89 at the Gaulke Activity Center on Nov. 7. The win has looked even better since then as the 7-1 Pilots have climbed up the poll to No. 7.
It is the first time the Evangels have cracked into the top five since the 2016-17 NAIA Preseason Poll when MACU was ranked No. 1 after coming off its first NAIA National Championship.
