OKLAHOMA CITY – Coming off a stellar senior season, former Mid-America Christian guard/forward Ashford Golden from the Evangels men's basketball team will be taking his skills overseas as Golden signed a deal to play for Associação Académica de Coimbra in the Liga Portuguesa de Basquetebol, the top basketball league in Portugal.
Golden, a native of Oklahoma City, inked a six-month deal with Coimbra and will join the team next week.
The 6-6 combo guard/forward competed for the MACU men's basketball team during its highly successful 2019-20 campaign, helping lead the Evangels to a 30-2 overall record. MACU finished Sooner Athletic Conference play with a 19-1 league mark and won the program's second ever conference title, becoming the first team in the league to finish with only one conference loss since Oklahoma Baptist during the 2009-10 season.
The Evangels were only one of four teams in the NAIA to finish with 30 wins and the team earned its first ever No. 1 seed to the NAIA Tournament before the event was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In his only season with the Evangels, Golden set multiple program NAIA era (2007-present) records. In a 98-86 road victory at Science & Arts on Dec. 13, 2019, Golden scored a career-high 39 points, tying the fourth-most points scored in a single game by shooting 12-for-15 from the field, 7-of-9 from three and 8-for-10 from the charity stripe while also ripping down 11 rebounds and blocking three shots. Golden's seven threes in that contest tied the fifth-most made in a single game before Golden eclipsed it with eight made triples and 37 points in a 99-92 road win at Oklahoma City on Feb. 20.
At the conclusion of the season, Golden was selected as an NAIA First Team All-American, becoming only the third Evangels player ever to earn First Team honors as he joined former MACU legends Charlie Shorter and Semar Farris on the esteemed list. Golden was also named the NCCAA Player of the Year on-top of being selected as an NCCAA First Team All-American as well.
Golden was also named a unanimous All-Sooner Athletic Conference First Team honoree as he was the only player in the league to finish in the top five in points (551, 5th), rebounds (221, 3rd) and blocked shots (33, 2nd). Golden was an efficient shooter on the offensive end, burying 184-of-397 (46.3 percent) of his shot attempts, converting 69-for-166 (41.6 percent) from beyond the arc and made 114-of-140 (81.4 percent) from the foul line.
Not only was Golden stellar on the court, but he was a standout academically as well, earning the Sooner Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Student-Athlete of the Year after finishing the 2019-20 academic year with a 4.0 GPA. Golden earned his Bachelor's of Science Degree in Psychology after graduating from MACU in May.
