OKLAHOMA CITY – The No. 2 Mid-America Christian men's basketball team is ready to take on a pair of crosstown rivals this week. The Evangels will open tomorrow night by hosting their north side rivals Oklahoma City at 7:45 p.m. inside the Gaulke Activity Center before heading to Bethany on Saturday for a 3:45 p.m. matchup with Southwestern Christian.
LAST TIME OUT
Mid-America Christian (25-1, 16-0 Sooner Athletic Conference) won a pair of suspenseful matchups against two NAIA Top 25 opponents last week. On Feb. 13, the Evangels had their backs against the ropes at No. 15 Southwestern Assemblies of God when the Lions' Nykolas Mason made a go-ahead layup with seven seconds left to give SAGU the 79-78 lead. On the in-bound, Tony Dorsey was able to weave through defenders and got fouled on the potential game-winning three-point shot with 0.5 seconds left. Dorsey knocked down the first two free throws to seal a 90-89 win over the Lions.
Terrance Jones led MACU with 19 points on 7-for-15 shooting to go with nine rebounds, four assists and two steals.
The Evangels last Saturday hosted No. 20 Texas Wesleyan in another big NAIA Top 25 showdown. Dorsey made another clutch shot for the Evangels with 41 seconds left. Leading by just two, Dorsey received a kick-out on the right wing from Jones and sank a three that put MACU up by two possessions. Even though TWU fought back to make it a three-point game with two seconds left, Dorsey was fouled once again and knocked down two free throws to seal the 94-89 victory.
Ashford Golden led MACU with 26 points on 8-for-15 shooting and a blazing 6-for-7 from the three-point arc while also knocking down 4-for-4 from the free throw line and ripping down six boards. Dorsey scored a season-high 21 points on 7-of-13 shooting, 3-for-5 from the arc and 4-for-4 from the charity stripe.
SCOUTING THE STARS
Oklahoma City comes into the week with a 14-12 overall record and a 6-10 mark against SAC foes. The Stars are currently in a tightly contested race for a spot in the conference tournament. With four games left, the Stars are tied for sixth with Southwestern Christian and Science & Arts for the No. 6 spot, just a game ahead of Langston at 5-11.
Last week, OCU picked up a crucial 103-78 road win at Southwestern Christian, before dropping a hard-fought 88-82 home matchup against No. 9 John Brown. The Stars capped off the week with a 98-82 road win at Bacone on Feb. 15.
The balanced Stars offensive efforts are led by senior forward Anthony Davis, scoring 13.5 ppg on 50.9 percent shooting while also leading the team's rebounding efforts at 6.5 boards per game. Since coming back in January, senior guard Trae Bryant has been tough to defend, averaging 13 ppg on a 51.3 percent shooting clip, including knocking down 49.3 percent of his three-point attempts. Junior guard Rashaun Coleman also presents a tough defensive challenge, averaging 12.8 ppg and leading the team with 100 assists, the most of any player in the Sooner Athletic Conference.
Coleman is also the team's defensive leader with 31 steals while senior forward A.J. Cockrell is the squad's best interior defender with 16 blocked shots.
HISTORY WITH THE STARS
Mid-America Christian will get the opportunity to even up the series since joining the Sooner Athletic Conference prior to the start of the 2007-08 season. The Stars hold a slight 14-13 edge in the series, but the Evangels have won the last two meetings. In their previous matchup at Oklahoma City back on Jan. 25, the game was tightly contested as OCU held a 53-52 lead with 11:17 to go in the second half. However, MACU strung together a 10-1 run to grab the lead and never relented as the Evangels pulled away with the 89-75 victory. Five Evangels scored in double-figures, led by Tony Dorsey with 19 points while Ashford Golden and D'von Moore chipped in 17 apiece.
SCOUTING THE EAGLES
Southwestern Christian will enter its road meeting with Science & Arts on Thursday with a 13-11 record and a 6-10 mark against SAC competition. The Eagles are currently in the midst of a three-game losing streak after dropping a 103-78 decision at home to Oklahoma City before falling at No. 9 John Brown 85-68 on Feb. 15.
Leading the Eagles on the offensive end and on the glass is junior forward Derek Dantzler-Fulner. The big man is averaging 14.8 ppg and is an all-around great shooter at 50 percent from the field, 42.3 percent from the three-point arc and 87.9 percent from the charity stripe. Dantzler-Fulner is also ripping down a team-best 7.3 rpg. Junior guard Khristien White will run the point with a squad-best 60 assists.
Defensively, senior guard Darius Madkin is the team's best defender with 27 steals while Dantzler-Fulner is SCU's best shot blocker with seven on the season.
HISTORY WITH THE EAGLES
Since joining the Sooner Athletic Conference, the Evangels are 10-7 against the Eagles, but are 21-9 in their last 30 meetings overall. Mid-America Christian has won the last two, but they have not been easy. In their last game back on Jan. 23 in the Gaulke Activity Center, the Eagles gave MACU one of its toughest tests of the season as SCU held an 89-88 lead with 2:25 left. However, a Terrance Jones layup with 2:04 to go ignited a six unanswered run as the Evangels held on as a pair of Tony Dorsey free throws with 16 seconds left sealed a 96-91 win.
DON'T DOUBT DORSEY
Even though junior guard Tony Dorsey is fifth-most prolific scorer (9.1 ppg) and third-best free throw shooter (76.7 percent), Dorsey has been MACU's go-to player in late game situations. The Shreveport, La. native was clutch in making the game-winning free throws in an 80-79 victory at No. 15 Southwestern Assemblies of God. Dorsey was clutch once again against No. 20 Texas Wesleyan, burying a three with 41 seconds left to make it a two-possession game before sinking the game-sealing free throws with a second left hold the 94-89 victory. The point guard has played a role with late shots or late free throws in five of the Evangels' six games decided by six points or less this season.
SAC TOURNAMENT WATCH – NECK AND NECK
Heading into the second-to-last week of regular season play, Mid-America Christian (15-1) continues to hold a one-game edge over John Brown (14-2) for the Sooner Athletic Conference lead. By defeating Texas Wesleyan (11-5) last Saturday, the Evangels have now locked up at least one of the top three spots in the SAC Tournament. With a win over Oklahoma City on Thursday or at Southwestern Christian on Saturday, MACU will lock up one of the top two spots as the Evangels hold the tiebreaker over Southwestern Assemblies of God (12-4) due to sweeping the regular season series. If MACU and JBU end the regular season in a tie for the top spot, due to the two teams splitting the season series, the tiebreaker would come down to comparative records against SAC teams in descending order of the league standings at the end of the regular season.
