OKLAHOMA CITY – The No. 3 Mid-America Christian men's basketball had its longest home win streak in the NAIA era snapped to Science & Arts 76-69 in a non-conference matchup at the Gaulke Activity Center on Thursday night.

 
STAT LEADERS

• Terrance Jones – 16 PTS, 8 REB, 1 BLK, 1 STL
• Jasiah Lewis – 13 PTS, 6-7 FG, 1-2 3FG, 5 REB
• Malik Malone – 11 PTS, 8 REB, 2 AST

 

GAME SUMMARY

• 1^st Half
  • The two teams exchanged four leads through the first 4:04 as a Damarius Brooks pull-up three-pointer from the left wing jumpstarted an eight-point run for the Evangels that was capped by Brooks' second three with 14:31 to go, making it a 13-7 MACU advantage.
  • Jasiah Lewis gave the Evangels their largest lead of the game on a fastbreak three-pointer from the left side to bring the score to 25-16.
  • Science & Arts quickly closed the gap thanks in-part by scoring eight of the next 10 to make it 33-31 with 5:10 on the clock.
  • Terrance Jones made a tightly contested layup in the middle of the lane to briefly stop the run, but the Drovers came right back with 12 unanswered over the next 4:09 to give USAO a 43-35 edge with 51 seconds left.
  • A pair of Malik Malone free throws followed by a free throw by USAO's Jalen Causwell sent Science & Arts into the break with a 44-37 edge.
• 2^nd Half
  • The Drovers built as large as a 10-point advantage at 53-43, but the Evangels were able to claw away at the deficit behind a pair of Lewis scores and a Malone triple to set the score to 55-51 with 12:48 remaining.
  • The USAO defense held Mid-America Christian to only two points over the next five minutes to stretch its lead to 10 again before Toni Kumanovic buried a three from the left wing with 7:49 to go to make it a 63-56 game.
  • Trailing 67-59 with 6:27 left, Jones picked up a loose ball off a USAO blocked shot and put it right back in to start a six-point Evangels run that was finished off on a Jones free throw at the 3:04 mark, cutting the Drovers' lead to 67-65.
  • With USAO leading by five with just under a minute to go, Omar Boone knocked down a pair of clutch free throws to cut it back to a three-point game at 72-69 with 51 seconds remaining. However, the Drovers' Elvin Rodriguez made the biggest play of the game with a driving dunk with 24 seconds left to push the lead back to five.
  • The Evangels were unable to muster another score the rest of the way while USAO ended the game with a pair of free throws to wrap-up the 76-69 final.

 

GAME NOTES

• Science & Arts (5-0) handed Mid-America Christian (4-1) its first regular season home loss since the 2018-19 season with the Evangels' last defeat at the Gaulke Activity Center coming to No. 23 John Brown by a score of 83-67 on Feb. 14, 2019.
• The Evangels continued to struggle on the offensive end during 2021, shooting just 23-for-61 (37.7 percent) from the field and 8-for-25 (32 percent) from three. MACU also struggled with turnovers, committing a season-high 21 miscues. It was the first time Mid-America Christian shot below 40-percent since falling to William Carey in the NAIA Tournament on Mar. 22, 2019, a contest that saw MACU shoot just 34.5 percent.
• Despite MACU's offensive struggles, the Evangels played well on the defensive end, limiting the Drovers to a season-low 76 points on 23-of-62 (37.1 percent) shooting and 7-of-22 (31.8 percent) from downtown.
• Science & Arts took advantage of its opportunities from the free throw line, converting 23-of-29 (79.3 percent) of its attempts while the Evangels were held to just 15-for-21 (71.4 percent).

 

NEXT UP

• Mid-America Christian will look to get back on-track on Monday, Jan. 11 as the Evangels will head to Bethany, Oklahoma to open Sooner Athletic Conference play against crosstown rival Southwestern Christian. The game is slated for a 7:45 p.m. tip-off inside Pickens-Springer Gymnasium.