OKLAHOMA CITY – The newly christened No. 1 Mid-America Christian men's basketball team will look to wrap up the regular season unbeaten inside the Gaulke Activity Center as the Evangels host Central Christian for Senior Night at 7:45 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 27 before closing out at Langston at 3:45 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 29.
LAST TIME OUT
Mid-America Christian (27-1, 17-1 Sooner Athletic Conference) gutted out a pair of tough wins last week, as MACU held on for a 99-92 home win against Oklahoma City before coming away with a 94-89 road win at Southwestern Christian.
In the win over Oklahoma City, the Evangels survived a tough test from the Stars after OCU rallied from 13 points down in the second half to take a 74-73 lead with 8:07 left. However, Marvin Lowe immediately put MACU back up with a score on the ensuing possession as the Evangels never conceded the lead the rest of the way before pulling out the seven-point victory.
Ashford Golden shot lights out for MACU in the contest, scoring his second-highest career point total with 37 points on 11-for-18 shooting, including 8-for-11 from the three-point arc and 7-for-7 from the charity stripe to go with eight rebounds and two steals. The eight triples for Golden matched Camilo Valencia for the third-most made threes in a single game during the NAIA era, just one behind Semar Farris and Olajuwon Gardner's program records.
In the victory over Southwestern Christian, MACU built as large as a 14-point lead in the second half after stringing together a 6-0 run off a pair of free throws by Terrance Jones and D'von Moore, followed by a Lowe bucket to make it 85-71 with 7:03 remaining. The Eagles slowly clawed their way back, eventually making it a one-possession game at 92-89 with 20 seconds left. On the following MACU possession, Jones was fouled and knocked down a pair of clutch free throws to extend the edge to five while Dominick Ford came up with a big defensive rebound just before time expired to secure the Evangels win.
Jones led MACU with a season-high 23 points on 7-for-15 shooting and made 8-of-11 from the foul line to go with eight rebounds while Golden finished with 17 points on another sharp 6-for-12 shooting performance and 5-for-6 from the charity stripe.
SCOUTING THE TIGERS
Central Christian enters Thursday night's contest with a 12-14 overall record and is 5-13 against SAC foes. The Tigers are currently contending for one of the last two spots in the conference tournament as CCC is just a game back of Langston, Oklahoma City and Southwestern Christian in a three-way tie for seventh in the league standings. The Tigers are coming off a confidence building upset last week when Central Christian stunned No. 13 Southwestern Assemblies of God 99-94 in overtime before losing a hard-fought 80-71 contest to No. 23 Texas Wesleyan.
The Tigers are led on the offensive end by junior guard T.J. Williams, who is scoring at a 13 points per game clip on 43.2 percent from the field and 78.7 percent from the foul line. Williams is also the team's best defender with 39 steals while his 77 assists rank as the second-best on the squad. Sophomore guard Isaiah Rivera is the team's assist leader at 78 while ranking second in scoring at 11.9 ppg. Junior forward Darrell Bryant leads CCC on the glass at 7.9 rebounds per game, the second-best clip in the Sooner Athletic Conference.
HISTORY WITH THE TIGERS
Mid-America Christian is 8-0 against Central Christian in the NAIA era and are 11-1 since 2003 as the Evangels will look to extend their winning streak to nine over the Tigers. In their previous meeting in McPherson, Kan. back on Nov. 23, 2019, Cedric Wright was an unstoppable force in the low-post, scoring a career-high 32 points on 14-for-16 from the field to go with six rebounds and a pair of steals.
SCOUTING THE LIONS
Langston is in a compelling situation coming into the week. Currently holding a 14-14 overall record and a 6-12 mark in SAC play, the Lions are in a three-way tie for seventh in the conference standings with Central Christian sitting just a game back. Langston split a pair of tough home games last week, falling 87-70 to No. 13 Southwestern Assemblies of God before pulling off a 79-68 upset over No. 23 Texas Wesleyan on Saturday.
Leading a balanced Lions scoring lineup is senior guard Alfonso Anderson, averaging 13.3 ppg on 41.9 percent shooting and 79.6 percent from the foul line. Anderson is also the team's best defender with 47 steals while ranking second on the squad in both rebounds (6.1 rpg) and third in assists (50). Freshman guard Stevie Pringle leads LU on the glass at 7.0 rpg while senior point guard Keeto Browne is the team's best passer with a squad-best 74 assists.
HISTORY WITH THE LIONS
Mid-America Christian is 8-1 against Langston in the NAIA era and have won the last four meetings. In their last matchup in the SAC opener back on Nov. 21, 2019, the Evangels cruised to a 92-65 home win over the Lions. D'von Moore led the Evangels with a season-high 24 points on 8-for-13 shooting, including going 6-for-11 from downtown.
SENIOR SENDOFF
After the conclusion of the women's game, Mid-America Christian will be honoring its five graduating seniors, D'von Moore, Ashford Golden, Calon Woodson, Cedric Wright and Torrey Young. These five seniors are in the midst of a special season at MACU, as this Evangels team is the first to reach No. 1 in the NAIA rankings during the regular season as well as set the program's modern era win streak record by opening the year with 20 wins in a row. The 2019-20 Evangels squad is currently on-pace to break the program's previous NAIA scoring record. With 2569 points and averaging 91.8 ppg, this year's senior class will look to topple the previous record of 3331 (90 ppg) set by the 2015-16 NAIA National Championship team.
SAC TOURNAMENT WATCH – CROSSING THE FINISH LINE
With just two games left in the regular season, Mid-America Christian at 17-1 currently holds a one-game lead in the Sooner Athletic Conference over No. 9 John Brown at 16-2. With a win over Central Christian or a Golden Eagles loss at either No. 23 Texas Wesleyan or No. 13 Southwestern Assemblies of God, the Evangels can lock up at least a share of the SAC regular season title. A win and a John Brown loss would give MACU the SAC Championship outright. If the Evangels can defeat both Central Christian and Langston, MACU will claim the SAC regular season championship regardless if John Brown wins its final two games.
