KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The honors keep rolling in for senior guard/forward Ashford Golden from the Mid-America Christian men's basketball team as the Oklahoma City native was tabbed to the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) NAIA All-America First Team on Thursday.
After completing a stellar senior campaign at MACU, Golden became just the second Evangels player in program history to ever be named an NAIA First Team All-American, joining Semar Farris who earned First Team accolades following the 2014-15 season.
Golden was the Evangels leader on both the offensive and defensive ends, as the 6-6 combo guard/forward averaged 17.2 points per game on 46.3 percent shooting from the field, 41.6 percent from the three-point arc and 81.4 percent from the charity stripe.
Golden also led MACU on the glass, ripping down 6.9 rebounds per game while recording a team-high 33 blocked shots to go with 31 steals.
One of just two players to be named a unanimous All-Sooner Athletic Conference First Team honoree, Golden was the only player to finish in the top five in the league in points (551, 5th), rebounds (221, 3rd) and blocks (33, 2nd).
Golden made his mark all over the MACU NAIA era record books during the 2019-20 campaign, scoring the seventh-most points in a single season to go with the fifth-most rebounds and fifth-most blocks. Golden also had one of the best seasons in program history shooting from the foul line as his 114-for-140 was good enough for the fifth-best free throw percentage.
Also setting marks in the single-game record books, Golden's best game in an Evangels uniform came on Dec. 13 in a 98-86 comeback victory at Science & Arts. Golden poured in 39 points on 12-for-15 shooting and went 7-for-9 from the three-point arc and 8-of-10 from the foul line. The scoring output tied for the fourth-most points scored in a single game in the NAIA era, joining Charlie Shorter and Angelo Lewis while the seven triples was the fifth-most during the same time span.
Golden surpassed that three-point shooting mark in a 99-92 home win over Oklahoma City on Feb. 20. In that contest, Golden scored 37 points on 11-of-18 shooting while going 8-for-11 from three and 7-for-7 from the free throw line while ripping down a team-high eight rebounds. The eight threes matched Camilo Valencia's third-best mark while placing just one shy of tying Farris and Olajuwon Gardner for the program record.
In MACU's 103-89 victory over No. 11 LSU-Shreveport, a team that finished third in the country and locked up a No. 1 seed in the NAIA Tournament, Golden did something that had only been done by two other Evangels in the NAIA era. Golden helped lead the Evangels to a win by knocking down 10-for-10 from the free throw line. Only two other Evangels have ever made a perfect 10-for-10 or better from the foul line in Shorter and Nick Tate, who were also NAIA All-Americans.
Golden helped guide the Evangels to a 30-2 overall record and the program's first ever No. 1 seed in the NAIA Tournament as MACU matched Georgetown (Ky.) for the best record in the entire NAIA. Mid-America Christian won its second ever Sooner Athletic Conference Championship after going 19-1 in league play to become the first team since 2010 NAIA National Champion Oklahoma Baptist to lose just one conference game.
The 30 wins set by MACU was the most in a single season during the NAIA era, surpassing the 28 registered by the 2015-16 NAIA National Championship team. The Evangels also set the program's win streak record by opening the campaign with 20 straight victories, the most consecutive wins since the 2003-04 team won 19 straight on its way to winning the NCCAA Division II National Championship.
It's more accolade in Golden's historic season after the senior was named the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) Player of the Year as well as a First Team honoree last week.
