OKLAHOMA CITY – The Sooner Athletic Conference announced its Winter Academic All-Conference Team on Thursday as the Mid-America Christian men's and women's basketball teams combined to place 13 on the distinguished list.
Seven MACU women's basketball student-athletes landed on the Academic All-SAC Team along with six student-athletes from the men's basketball team.
One of just three men's basketball teams in the SAC to earn Scholar Team honors, the Evangels are coming off its winningest season in the NAIA era (2007-present) after finishing the 2019-20 campaign with a 30-2 record and went 19-1 in SAC play to win the program's second ever SAC regular season title.
It was the first time in the NAIA era that MACU recorded 30 wins in one season and were only one of four teams in the entire NAIA to reach the 30-win plateau. The Evangels were not only selected to compete in the NAIA Tournament for the fourth time in program history, but also received their first ever No. 1 seed. However, the Evangels championship aspirations were cut short when the NAIA National Championship Tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Evangels' record-setting year consisted of the second-most prolific offense in the NAIA era after averaging 90.4 points per game, finishing only behind the 2015-16 NAIA National Championship Team while shooting a program-record 50.6 percent from the field and 40.2 percent from the three-point arc. MACU also recorded its first ever double-digit scoring margin (15.4) since joining the SAC in 2007.
Leading MACU was senior guard/forward Ashford Golden, who not only received NAIA First Team All-American honors, but was also selected as the NCCAA National Player of the Year, joining junior teammate Terrance Jones, who also received NCCAA All-American Honorable Mention accolades. Golden was one of just two players to be named a unanimous All-SAC First Team selection after being the only player in the league to finish in the top five in scoring (551 points, 5th), rebounding (221, 3rd) and blocked shots (33, 2nd).
The Evangels also played extremely well against some of the top competition in the nation, going 7-2 against teams ranked in the NAIA Top 25. On Nov. 7, 2019, MACU picked up a 103-89 victory over a then No. 11 LSU-Shreveport team that eventually claimed one of the four No. 1 seeds in the NAIA Tournament. In a 73-59 win on Jan. 4 over No. 10 John Brown, MACU Head Coach Josh Gamblin earned his 100th career victory with the program since taking the reins prior to the start of the 2015-16 season.
The Mid-America Christian women's basketball program also continued to sustain a high level of success that resulted in the Evangels finishing the 2019-20 campaign with their fourth-straight 20-win season, going 21-11 and finish fourth in the SAC standings with a 12-8 mark. MACU was also performed well academically, earning SAC Scholar Team honors with a team GPA of 3.55.
MACU also qualified for its fourth consecutive NCCAA National Championship Tournament after receiving the Central Region automatic bid, but the Evangels didn't get the opportunity to compete for their third straight National Championship after the tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Nov. 7, 2019, the Evangels made history when it went into Denton, Texas and stunned North Texas for a 61-59 exhibition victory, recording the program's first ever win against an NCAA Division I opponent.
The Evangels picked up a pivotal win in the last regular season game at Langston on Feb. 29, as MACU's 87-74 victory allowed the Evangels to lock up one of the top four seeds in the SAC Tournament and host a quarterfinal match.
MACU followed it up with an 80-75 win over No. 5 seed Texas Wesleyan and then in the SAC Semifinal, the Evangels gave the top-seeded Oklahoma City a tough challenge. MACU trailed the Stars by just two, 26-24, at the halftime break before eventually falling by a score of 74-59 to the top-ranked team in the nation.
Senior forward Alexis Shannon was the Evangels unquestioned leader as the Noblesville, Ind. native was one of the nation's top scorers with 641 points on a 20 ppg clip, the third-most of all NAIA women's basketball players.
On Feb. 6, Shannon scored a career-high 33 points in a 99-50 victory over Oklahoma Panhandle State, which allowed her to surpass Christina Schmidt as the program's second all-time leading scorer.
Shannon wrapped up her three-year MACU career as the program's NAIA era record holder for points (1853), rebounds (757), field goals made (702), field goals attempted (1486), free throws made (345) and free throws attempted (503).
For the complete list of Winter Academic All-SAC honorees, please check out the list below.
Women's Basketball (7)
Nevada Denton
Aaliyah Endsley
Jessica Fairley
Lexi Hernandez
Ossyana Ozoani
Alexis Shannon
Sydney Wycoff
Men's Basketball (6)
Dominick Ford
Ashford Golden
D'von Moore
Carlos Slaughter
Calon Woodson
Cedric Wright
