OKLAHOMA CITY – The top-seeded and top-ranked Mid-America Christian men's basketball will continue its pursuit toward winning its first ever Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament Championship this weekend as the Evangels will be competing at the SAC Championships inside the Hutcherson Center in Plainview, Texas.
The Evangels will face off once again against fourth-seeded and No. 15 ranked Southwestern Assemblies of God in the semifinal round at 6 p.m. on Friday. If MACU advances, the Evangels would play the winner of the second-seed, No. 9 John Brown and sixth-seeded Science & Arts for the SAC Championship at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday.
LAST TIME OUT
Mid-America Christian (30-1) once again faced a tough test from Southwestern Christian, coached by former MACU Assistant Coach Brandon Rollins, but the Evangels held off the Eagles for their third win of the season over SCU for the 89-82 victory.
Senior guard Ashford Golden and junior guard Terrance Jones continued to be dynamic forces on the offensive end by scoring 22 points apiece. Golden notched his 22 on 6-for-11 from the field and 8-for-10 from the foul line while Jones shot 9-for-14 from the floor.
SCOUTING THE LIONS
The No. 4 seed and fifteenth-ranked Southwestern Assemblies of God makes its way into the SAC Semifinal with a 23-7 record after finishing fourth in the SAC standings with a 13-7 mark, just a game behind Texas Wesleyan for the No. 3 spot. In the quarterfinals, the Lions were challenged by the No. 5 seed Wayland Baptist, but SAGU survived thanks to a Howard Turner three breaking a tie with 1:23 to go before coming down with a defensive rebound and Kentton Williams score with 37 seconds remaining to stretched the lead to five. The Lions eventually held on for a 74-72 victory.
The Friday semifinal will feature the top two players in the league going at it with SAGU being led by the SAC Player of the Year, sophomore forward Nykolas Mason. One of only two players to be named a unanimous All-SAC First Team performer along with MACU's Ashford Golden, Mason is one of the top shooters in the country, averaging a SAC-leading 23.8 points per game, the fourth-best scoring clip in the NAIA. Mason also ranks sixth in the NAIA in field goal percentage at 61.4 percent while knocking down 36.5 percent from three and 76.1 percent from the charity stripe.
The Lions also receive a lot of production from junior guard Joshua Kashila, who ranks second on the team in scoring at 17.1 ppg while leading the squad with 98 assists, 40 steals and ranks second on squad in rebounding at 6.9 rpg.
Leading SAGU on the glass is senior forward Kentton Williams, ranking fourth in the SAC at 7.4 rebounds per game while also scoring at a 15.5 ppg clip.
HISTORY WITH THE LIONS
Mid-America Christian is 13-7 against SAGU in the NAIA era, sweeping the tightly contested regular season series. In their first meeting, the Evangels held on for 90-86 victory inside the Gaulke Activity Center on Jan. 18 before winning in dramatic fashion in Waxahachie, Texas. In their Feb. 13 meeting, junior guard Tony Dorsey was fouled going up for the potential game-winning three at the buzzer and calmly knocked down two free throws with 0.7 seconds left to secure an 80-79 win.
ELITE COMPANY
Mid-America Christian will be looking to accomplish something that hasn't been done in 10 years, the No. 1 seed winning the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament. However, the Evangels are also the first SAC team to lose just one conference game during the same stretch. The last one-loss SAC team was the 2009-10 Oklahoma Baptist Bison squad that finished 21-1 in league play and not only went on to win the SAC Tournament Championship, but also went on to win the NAIA National Championship.
SEARCHING HIGH AND LOWE
The Evangels will be looking for junior forward Marvin Lowe to continue to play an intricate role in the offense. In MACU's quarterfinal win over Southwestern Christian, Lowe put together one of his best all-around performances of the season, scoring 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting with eight rebounds and a career-best seven assists. While Lowe doesn't take a bulk of MACU's shots, the Tulsa, Okla. product has been proficient, shooting a team-best 74.4 percent from the floor.
