OKLAHOMA CITY – In leading the No. 2 Mid-America Christian men's basketball team to a season-opening 108-73 victory over Manhattan Christian (Kan.) on Halloween, redshirt junior forward Malik Malone was named the first Sooner Athletic Conference Player of the Week of the 2020-21 season.
In his first start with the Evangels, Malone turned in a double-double, scoring a game-high 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting, including going 2-for-2 from beyond the three-point arc while ripping down a team-leading 11 rebounds to go with a pair of blocked shots.
Malone helped spearhead a huge first half for the Evangels, who went into the halftime break with a 54-28 advantage. The Kileen, Texas native scored 11 points in the opening half, going 4-for-7 and ripped down seven rebounds while blocking both shot attempts over 14 minutes of action.
The 6-6 forward came back with nine points in the second half, knocking down 4-of-5 from the field and dishing out a pair of assists to help the Evangels secure the 35-point victory.
With the win, Mid-America Christian has won 12 straight season-openers while picking up the team's 18th straight home victory.
Malone is just the second Evangels player to earn conference player of the week honors in the last four seasons, joining NAIA All-American Ashford Golden who was a two-time recipient during the 2019-20 campaign.
No. 2 Mid-America Christian will be back in-action on Thursday as it will host SAC rival Wayland Baptist for a non-conference tilt at 7:45 p.m. inside the Gaulke Activity Center.
