OKLAHOMA CITY – Mid-America Christian men's basketball head coach Josh Gamblin picked up his 100th career win in one of the biggest home matchups of the season for the third-ranked Evangels as MACU stifled No. 10 John Brown to come away with a 73-59 victory on Saturday afternoon at the Gaulke Activity Center.
Facing their second NAIA Top 25 team of the season, Mid-America Christian (13-0, 4-0 Sooner Athletic Conference) was up to the challenge as the Evangels held John Brown (12-2, 3-1 SAC) to its second-lowest scoring output of the season while limiting the nation's fifth-best three-point shooting team to just 8-for-26 (30.8 percent) from beyond the arc.
Senior guard D'von Moore led four Evangels into double-figures off the bench, recording 20 points on 6-of-10 from the field, 4-for-6 from the three-point arc and 4-for-4 from the foul line to go with four rebounds and a team-high four assists.
The two nationally-ranked top 10 teams were evenly matched through the 7:29 as JBU's Densier Carnes layup tied the score at 12-all before the Evangels gained some breathing room.
With 12:17 on the clock, Moore curled around a screen and knocked down a three-pointer from the right wing, jumpstarting a 10 unanswered run that was capped off by a pair of Ashford Golden free throws with 10:14 left to make it a 22-12 game.
The Golden Eagles trimmed the deficit to six before MACU went on a 9-2 run over the next eight minutes to take its largest lead of the half at 32-19 on a Terrance Jones free throw with 1:25 remaining.
However, John Brown managed to knock down a contest triple from the top of the key on the ensuing possession to close the gap to 32-22 heading into the halftime break.
Both teams struggled to find an offensive rhythm in the opening half as MACU shot just 9-for-24 (37.5 percent) from the floor and 3-of-13 (23.1 percent) from three while the Eagles knocked down 9-of-29 (31 percent) from the field and 2-for-12 (16.7 percent) from the arc. The difference in the half was MACU's ability to take advantage from the foul line, going 11-for-13 (84.6 percent) while JBU shot just 1-for-4 (25 percent) from the charity stripe.
The Evangels defense suffocated John Brown to start the second half, limiting the Golden Eagles to just one field goal in the first 7:51. MACU outscored the Eagles 13-2 during the stretch as Moore's 28-foot three-pointer from the left wing at the 12:26 mark gave the Evangels their largest lead of the ballgame at 45-24.
Mid-America Christian was able to maintain a healthy advantage for the rest of the way as a pair of Tony Dorsey free throws extended the Evangels score to 65-46 with 3:03 remaining before the Golden Eagles made one last push.
John Brown whittled away at the MACU advantage until a Luke Harper three-pointer narrowed the Evangels' edge to 70-59.
However, the lead would prove to be insurmountable as the Evangels closed the game out from the free throw line and forced some late JBU turnovers to hold on for the 14-point win.
The MACU offense returned to its former self in the second half, knocking down 12-for-24 (50 percent) from the floor, 4-or-10 (40 percent) from the arc and continued to stay hot from the free throw line by going 13-for-16 (81.3 percent) to finish 24-for-29 (82.8 percent) for the game.
Golden was solid on both the offensive and defensive ends for MACU, scoring 11 points on 3-of-8 shooting and converted 4-for-5 from the foul line while tallying a career-high four blocked shots. Dorsey also finished with 11 points while knocking down 7-of-8 from the charity stripe while Cedric Wright rounded out the double-figure scorers with 11 on 4-for-8 from the field.
Dominick Ford led a balanced rebounding effort with five boards and Terrance Jones recorded a season-high three steals to go with his eight points.
It was the finest defensive effort of the season in Gamblin's milestone win, as the fifth-year head coach improved to 100-51 (.662) since taking the reins prior to the start of the 2015-16 season.
Mid-America Christian will now prepare to face its first road NAIA Top 25 matchup of the season as the Evangels will head to Plainview, Texas to take on No. 9 Wayland Baptist on Thursday, Jan. 9 at 7:45 p.m. MACU will finish up the road set with a 3:45 p.m. tip on Saturday Jan. 11 at Oklahoma Panhandle State.
