BETHANY, Okla. – The Mid-America Christian men's basketball team's comeback efforts came up a little short at Southwestern Christian on Tuesday night as the Eagles converted a late layup to hand the Evangels a 68-67 defeat inside Pickens-Springer Gymnasium.
 
TOP PERFORMERS

• Tony Dorsey – 13 Points, 8 Reb, 4 Assists
• Omar Boone – 11 Points, 4-10 FG, 2 Reb, 2 Assists
• Quentin Woodson – 8 Points, 3-5 FG, 8 Reb

GAME SUMMARY

• First Half
  • Mid-America Christian opened the contest with a pair of scores from Jasiah Lewis and Isaiah Hammons to give MACU the early 4-0 edge 1:49 into the contest.
  • Southwestern Christian countered an 11-unanswered run as a pair of Jordan Williams free throws made an 11-4 game with 15:46 left.
  • Omar Boone helped spark an Evangels comeback as he buried threes on back-to-back possessions to cut it to one, but SCU fired back with a 7-2 spurt to push it back out to an 18-12 advantage with 12:27 to go.
  • A Caleb Riggs triple started a six-point swing in the Evangels favor as a Quentin Woodson free throw drew the game back even at 18-all with 10:06 remaining.
  • MACU tied it up two more times over the next five minutes, the last coming on a Woodson lay-in with just over five minutes left, but the Eagles utilized a 12-4 surge to as a Khristien White three brought it to 34-26 with 2:28 on the clock.
  • Ronald Moore's three followed by a layup by Derek Dantzler allowed SCU to take its largest lead of the game at 41-31, but Tony Dorsey drained a three from the left corner with seven seconds left to trim it to a 41-34 deficit at the break.
• Second Half
  • Both teams struggled offensively to start the final 20 minutes as a Hammons free throw was the only score before Jordan Williams layup at the 18:00 mark pushed the Eagles edge out to 43-35.
  • The Evangels managed to cut into it with a 6-2 surge behind a pair of Dorsey free throws and buckets from Riggs and Hammons, but SCU swung back with five straight as a Luiz Machado Jr. score stretched it to 50-41 with 14:09 remaining.
  • SCU maintained its nine-point cushion over the next few minutes before the Evangels struck with six unanswered as two more Dorsey free throws and a pair of layups from Tarrence Gaines off the bench cut it back to a one-possession game at 52-49 with 10:53 on the clock.
  • Dantzler converted a layup just before the midway point to briefly stop the run, but the Evangels streaked out in-front with eight unanswered. Toni Kumanovic knocked down three free throws before Gaines hit a three from the corner to give MACU a 55-54 edge with 7:39 left, its first lead since the 18:11 mark in the first half. Omar Boone rounded out the run with a lay-in just moments later to bring it to a 57-54 advantage.
  • White and Woodson traded the next two scores before SCU's Jordan Williams drew the game back even at 59-59 with a three with 6:37 remaining.
  • With just over five minutes to go, Hammons knocked down a three from the left wing to push MACU back in-front while Lewis buried a crucial mid-range jumper from the left corner with 3:29 left to push it out to a 65-61 MACU edge.
  • Under two minutes remaining, Southwestern Christian surged out in-front off a Moore score and a Darrin Ryan three-pointer from the left corner to make it 66-65, but Dorsey came up with a clutch jumper from the right side to push the Evangels back into the lead at 67-66 with just over a minute to go.
  • Mid-America Christian came up with a big defensive stop and had an opportunity to take the final shot, but a costly late turnover with 17 seconds left gave SCU one last chance.
  • On SCU's final possession, Machado caught the ball in the low post and was able to spin around to convert a go-ahead layup with seven seconds left. The Evangels had one last chance for a buzzer beater, but Dorsey's tightly contested midrange jumper went just left to end in a 68-67 final.

GAME NOTES

• Mid-America Christian struggled to slow down the Eagles in the first half as SCU shot 63.0 percent from the field and 62.5 percent from three in the first half. However, the Evangels were able to slow down Southwestern Christian in the second half as the Eagles finished the contest by shooting 29-for-57 (50.9 percent) and 7-of-18 (38.9 percent) from beyond the arc.
• MACU's offensive struggles continues as the Evangels could only muster 23-of-62 (37.1 percent) and 8-for-30 (26.7 percent) from beyond the arc, but MACU's ability to get to the free throw line for a 13-3 differential in conversions helped the Evangels overcome the shooting slump.
• The Evangels were able to win the rebounding and turnover battles as MACU held a 35-31 edge on the glass and committed 14 turnovers to 15 for the Eagles.
• Tony Dorsey led the Evangels offensive efforts with 13 points. While he struggled at a 3-for-11 shooting clip, the Shreveport, La. native converted on 2-for-6 from beyond the arc and 5-of-6 from the foul line. Dorsey also finished with a team-high eight rebounds and four assists.
• Omar Boone was the only other Evangel to crack into double-figures with 11 points on 4-of-10 from the field to go with a pair of assists and two rebounds.
• Four different Evangels finished with eight points as Quentin Woodson, Isaiah Hammons, Tarrence Gaines and Caleb Riggs shared the mark. Woodson recorded eight boards as well while Hammons added six to go with four steals and three assists. Gaines also chipped in six boards, three of which coming on the offensive end.
• With the loss, Mid-America Christian has lost six of its last seven games. The Evangels have come up just a little bit short in four of the six, which have been by five points or less and two of which have come in overtime.
• The Evangels dropped to 7-6 on the season and 0-5 in Sooner Athletic Conference play while Southwestern Christian improved to 4-4 and 2-3 against SAC foes.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will get the opportunity to regroup as the Evangels will be off for 25 days until they return to action. MACU will be back at home on New Year's Day as the Evangels will host No. 8 Southwestern Assemblies of God for a 3:45 p.m. tip-off inside the Gaulke Activity Center.