OKLAHOMA CITY – The No. 1 Mid-America Christian men's basketball team will be hosting its first ever Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament game as the top-seeded Evangels will be taking on No. 8 seed Southwestern Christian at 7:45 p.m. on Tuesday at the Gaulke Activity Center.
LAST TIME OUT
Mid-America Christian (29-1, 19-1 SAC) experienced a very special Senior Night on Thursday. Not only did the Evangels win their senior send-off by a score of 80-61 over Central Christian, but also clinched the program's second-ever SAC Championship. It was the first time the MACU men's basketball team won the SAC Championship since the 2013-14 campaign.
Junior forward Terrance Jones led the Evangels with a season-high 24 points on 8-for-11 shooting from the field and converted 7-of-7 from the foul line. The Dallas, Texas native also ripped down 10 rebounds for his first double-double of the season.
The Evangels faced a stiff test from Langston in their regular season finale, but Jones came up clutch once again for MACU by getting an offensive rebound and putback with 38 seconds left to put MACU up by two possessions. The Evangels got a defensive stop on the ensuing possession and Dominick Ford knocked down a pair of free throws to seal a 75-69 win.
Jones once again led MACU with his second straight double-double, recording 20 points on 8-for-15 shooting to go with 10 boards. Ford also added 16 points on a blazing 5-for-7 from the floor and 4-for-5 from three.
SCOUTING THE EAGLES
Coached by former MACU Assistant Coach Brandon Rollins, the eighth-seeded Southwestern Christian will come into Tuesday night's game with a 14-14 overall record and finished 7-13 in SAC play. The Eagles split a pair of road games last week, gutting out a hard-fought 92-90 win at Oklahoma Panhandle State before dropping an 87-65 matchup at Wayland Baptist.
Junior forward Derek Dantzler-Fulner leads a balanced SCU lineup, averaging 15.3 ppg on a 51.3 percent shooting clip while also knocking down 44.8 percent from the three-point arc and 85.9 percent from the free throw line. Dantzler-Fulner is also the Eagles top rebounder, ripping down 7.5 rpg, the third-best rate in the SAC.
Junior guard Khristien White is the team's top passer, dishing out 65 assists while averaging 10. 4 ppg. Senior guard Darius Madkin provides a spark for Southwestern Christian on both the offensive and defensive ends, ranking third on the team at 13.6 ppg while recording a team-best 32 steals.
HISTORY WITH THE EAGLES
Mid-America Christian is 22-9 in its last 31 meetings with Southwestern Christian, but the Eagles have provided a challenge for the Evangels this season. The Evangels survived a hard-fought 96-91 home win on Jan. 23 before completing the series sweep with a 94-89 at at SCU on Feb. 22. Ashford Golden has performed well for MACU between the two games, averaging 19 ppg on a 48 percent shooting clip while Terrance Jones has averaged 17.5 ppg against the Eagles.
WINNER, WINNER, CHICKEN DINNER
With the win at Langston on Saturday, MACU recorded its 29th win of the season to set a new NAIA era program record for most wins in a season. The new mark surpassed the previous best set by the 2015-16 NAIA National Championship team, who finished the campaign with a 28-9 record. The Evangels are also a win away from matching 2004 NCCAA Division II National Championship team, who finished the 2003-04 season with a 30-7 overall record to win the program's third NCCAA Championship. Mid-America Christian will be gunning for not only its first SAC Tournament Championship, but also the No. 1 seed in the NAIA Tournament as the Evangels are currently the only team in the NAIA with fewer than two losses and one of two teams with fewer than three losses.
ELITE COMPANY
By going 19-1 in Sooner Athletic Conference play, the Evangels joined some elite company. MACU became just the fourth team in SAC history to ever finish with one conference loss and the first since the 2009-10 season. The last one-loss SAC team was Oklahoma Baptist, who finished 34-2 overall and won the NAIA National Championship. The other two one-loss teams were Rogers State during the 2008-09 season, who finished 30-2 overall as well as the 2006-07 Oklahoma City squad that went 35-2 and also won the NAIA National Championship.
