OKLAHOMA CITY – The No. 3 Mid-America Christian men's basketball team faced its second NCAA Division II opponent in a three-day stretch as the Evangels dropped a hard-fought 70-60 exhibition contest to East Central (Okla.) at the Gaulke Activity Center on Monday evening.

 
TOP PERFORMERS

• Dominick Ford – 13 PTS, 4-8 FG, 1-3 3FG, 4-4 FT, 7 REB, 1 BLK
• Omar Boone – 9 PTS, 7-8 FT, 5 REB, 4 AST
• Terrance Jones – 8 PTS, 6 REB

 

GAME SUMMARY

• 1^st Half
  • Neither team could gain larger than a two-possession lead until East Central scored five unanswered to build a 13-6 advantage with 13:42 to go in the first half.
  • The Evangels struggled midway through as the Tigers extended its edge to 12 at 25-13 with 5:40 left.
  • Toni Kumanovic hit a strong eurostep layup with 5:15 remaining to jumpstart a 12-0 Evangels run that featured buckets from Malik Malone and Marvin Lowe to go with a pair of Terrance Jones layup. Kumanovic capped off the run with a four-point play on a fadeaway three-pointer from the top of the key to lock the score up at 25 with 57 seconds on the clock.
  • ECU's Jakeem Acres hit a layup with 38 seconds left to give the Tigers the 27-25 lead heading into the halftime break.
• 2^nd Half
  • East Central captured the early momentum in the second half, opening the 20-minute session with 13-6 run through the first 4:16 to stretch its edge back to 40-31.
  • Mid-America Christian chipped away at the deficit over the next six minutes. The Evangels utilized a seven-point run near the midway point that featured a Lowe layup and a pair of free throws from Dominick Ford before Jasiah Lewis knocked down a free throw and got his own rebound off a missed attempt to get the put-back, tying the game up at 45 with 10:20 left.
  • The Tigers briefly took the edge back with a free throw before Ford got the and-one off an offensive rebound and put-back to give the Evangels their first lead of the game at 48-46 with 9:23 to go.
  • Unfortunately, MACU went through a near four-minute scoring drought immediately following as East Central scored nine straight to gain a 55-48 advantage with 6:53 left.
  • Omar Boone knocked down a pair of free throws and converted a long jumper near the top of the key to trim the ECU edge to three at 55-52 with 5:52 to go, but MACU could climb no closer as the Tigers pulled away for the 70-60 win.

 

GAME NOTES

• While the Evangels defense contained the Tigers in the first half, holding ECU to only 12-of-37 (32.4 percent) shooting and 2-of-14 (14.3 percent) from three, ECU found an offensive rhythm in the second half by knocking down 12-of-23 (52.2 percent) from the field and 4-for-9 (44.4 percent) from beyond the arc to finish with a 40-percent shooting clip for the game and 26.1 percent from three.
• Mid-America Christian struggled to shoot the ball against the pesky East Central defense from tip to buzzer, converting just 20-of-64 (31.3 percent) of its shots and 4-of-23 (17.4 percent) from the arc.
• Dominick Ford was the lone Evangels player to crack double-figures, scoring 13 points on 4-of-8 from the floor and 4-for-4 from the foul line to go with a team-high seven rebounds and a block.
• Despite struggling from the field, Omar Boone was able to get to the foul line early and often, converting 7-of-8 from the charity stripe to finish with nine points and five rebounds to go with a team-best four assists.
• Even though he saw limited minutes due to foul trouble, Malik Malone challenged the Tigers defensively by finishing with a team-high three of the Evangels' seven steals to go with five points off the MACU bench.

 

NEXT UP

• Mid-America Christian will return to regular season play on Thursday night as the Evangels will face Science & Arts in a rescheduled non-conference game. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. inside the Gaulke Activity Center.