SHREVEPORT, La. – The Mid-America Christian men's basketball team faced one of its biggest road challenges of the season on Monday night, but the Evangels were able to come up with clutch buckets and make some huge stops in the final few minutes to pull out a 78-72 victory at No. 6 LSU-Shreveport.
 
TOP PERFORMERS

• Caleb Riggs – 21 Points, 7-12 FG, 6-10 3FG, 4 Reb
• Tony Dorsey – 15 Points, 6-8 FG, 3-3 FT, 6 Reb, 2 Assists, 2 Steals
• Terrance Jones – 13 Points, 4-8 FG, 1-3 3FG, 4-7 FT, 9 Reb, 3 Assists
• Jasiah Lewis – 13 Points, 5-8 FG, 3-5 3FG, 3 Reb, 2 Assists, 2 Steals

GAME SUMMARY

• First Half
  • Mid-America Christian was able to jump out to an early 7-3 advantage off of a Jasiah Lewis three and a pair of buckets from Caleb Riggs and Tony Dorsey.
  • LSU-Shreveport countered with a commanding 19-3 run to grab a 22-10 lead off of a pair of Royce Hunter free throws with 12:18 to go.
  • The Evangels managed to buckle down on the defensive end as scores from Dorsey, Terrance Jones and Lewis allowed the Evangels to cap a nine unanswered run on a Riggs triple, trimming the deficit to 22-19 with 8:31 left.
  • A Kelvin Henry Jr. layup only briefly halted MACU's epic run as Riggs drained three-pointers on three consecutive possessions to give the Evangels the 28-24 lead with 6:06 on the clock.
  • Following an Akeem White layup, the Evangels continued to build on its lead with another seven unanswered off of a pair of layups from Lewis and Quentin Woodson to go with another Riggs three to make it a 35-26 game with 2:59 left.
  • The Evangels struggled to score over the final three minutes as LSU-Shreveport went on a 7-0 run to close out the half as MACU held a slim 35-33 edge at the halftime break.
• Second Half
  • The Pilots run carried over into the start of the second half as LSUS scored the first nine points to grab a 42-35 advantage on a Hunter Royce layup with 17:51 remaining.
  • On the ensuing possession, Lewis buried a three to ignite an 8-2 MACU spurt, cutting the deficit to one on a Dorsey layup with 17:07 to go.
  • LSU-Shreveport managed to get the momentum back over the next six minutes, outscoring the Evangels 16-7 during this stretch as Jeff Boyd's three-pointer gave LSUS its largest lead of the half at 60-50 with 11:41 left.
  • MACU remained persistent as it chipped away at the Pilots lead over the next five minutes. Following a Lony Francis layup that pushed the LSUS edge back to six at 66-60, the Evangels rattled off six in a row off a Jones layup and an Isaiah Hammons free throw before Dorsey finished off a three-point play with 4:43 on the clock to tie the game up at 66-all.
  • After an Akeem White layup gave LSUS the lead back, the Evangels once again put together a strong surge, as a pair of Hammons free throw drew it back even before Riggs knocked down his sixth three-pointer to give MACU the 71-68 edge with 3:27 left, its first lead since the beginning of the second half.
  • LSUS's Trey Johnson knocked down a layup on the following possession to bring it down to one, but Jones followed with one of the biggest shots of the game a minute later. With the shot clock winding down, Jones stepped back and splashed a contested three with just over a minute left to stretch the MACU advantage to 74-70.
  • A pair of Johnson free throws managed to pull it back to a one-possession game with just over a minute left, but Dorsey came up clutch once again for MACU as he drove strong to the basket and made an acrobatic layup with 37 seconds left to push it back out to a 76-72 lead.
  • The Evangels came up with a huge defensive stop on the following possession and Toni Kumanovic iced the game away from the foul line with 17 seconds left as MACU closed out the 78-72 victory.

GAME NOTES

• Mid-America Christian efficiently shot 27-for-48 (56.3 percent) from the floor and 10-of-20 (50 percent) from three while going 14-for-22 (63.6 percent) from the charity stripe. The Pilots ended the contest by shooting 28-of-63 (44.4 percent), knocking down just 7-for-23 (30.4 percent) from beyond the arc and 9-of-16 (56.3 percent) from the foul line.
• The Evangels held a 39-29 edge on the glass, but the Pilots won the turnover battle by forcing 18 MACU turnovers while committing just 11 themselves.
• MACU was the more balanced team on the offensive end with five different players scoring in double-figures. Caleb Riggs led the way with a season-high 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting going 6-for-10 from downtown.
• Playing in his hometown, Tony Dorsey finished with 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting and 3-for-3 from the free throw line to go with six rebounds, two assists and two steals.
• Terrance Jones led the Evangels on the glass with nine rebounds to go with his 13 points on 5-of-8 from the field. Jones also turned in a team-high three assists.
• Jasiah Lewis chipped in 13 points while Isaiah Hammons added 10 points off the MACU bench.
• Mid-America Christian notched its first top 25 win since topping No. 8 Southwestern Assemblies of God, 94-91 in the SAC Semifinals on Feb. 27.
• The Evangels won their second straight against LSU-Shreveport after the team picked up a 103-89 victory over the Pilots at the Gaulke Activity Center on Nov. 7, 2019. Both the Evangels and the Pilots earned No. 1 seeds to the NAIA National Championship Tournaments that year before the tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• With the win, Mid-America Christian improved to 3-0 overall while the Pilots fell to 0-1 following their season-opener.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will be back home on Saturday, Nov. 6 as the Evangels will host Bethel (Kan.) for a 6 p.m. tip-off inside the Gaulke Activity Center.