OKLAHOMA CITY – The Mid-America Christian men's basketball team rallied from nine down in the second half to force overtime and then never trailed in the extra session as the Evangels defeated Texas Wesleyan 70-66 in the Sooner Athletic Conference Quarterfinal Wednesday night at the Gaulke Activity Center.
 

STAT LEADERS

• Terrance Jones – 21 PTS, 7-20 FG, 1-3 3FG, 6-6 FT, 6 REB, 2 AST, 1 BLK, 1 STL
• Tony Dorsey – 11 PTS, 6-8 FT, 6 REB, 2 AST
• Derrick Magiya – 7 PTS, 3-6 FG, 5 REB, 3 BLK, 1 AST

 
GAME SUMMARY

• 1^st Half
  • Texas Wesleyan (10-5) came out of the gate with a 9-1 run through the first 1:49, prompting MACU Head Coach Josh Gamblin to call a timeout to regroup.
  • Mid-America Christian (10-3) exited the break in the action with a seven-point run of its own, five of which coming from Tony Dorsey to pull it to within one at 9-8 with 16:32 left.
  • The Rams quickly swung the momentum back in their favor by scoring seven of the next nine, but MACU countered on a Terrance Jones pull-up and a pair of free throws to close the deficit back to two, 16-14 with 11:06 remaining.
  • TWU answered the game of runs with seven unanswered midway through to extend its edge to 23-14 before the Evangels swung back with eight in a row, capped off on a Carlos Slaughter layup to bring it to within one, 23-22 with 7:04 to go.
  • Mid-America Christian managed to keep the deficit to within a couple of possessions over the next five minutes, as a pair of Jones free throws brought it to within three at 31-28 with 3:11 to go.
  • The Rams ended the half with a 7-2 run as TWU's Davon Berry hit a step-back jumper at the buzzer to put the Evangels down 38-30 at the half.
• 2^nd Half
  • MACU came out of the locker room on-fire, opening the second half by scoring eight straight, finished off on Jasiah Lewis' strong driving layup to tie the score at 38-all just 1:41 in.
  • Texas Wesleyan countered with a 9-0 run of their own as Christopher Coley's three put the Rams up 47-38 with 14:53 to go.
  • TWU maintained a three-possession lead for the next few minutes before Jones offensive board and putback jumpstarted another string of nine straight that was finished off on a Toni Kumanovic three from the left corner off a fantastic Jones dish off the fastbreak to give MACU its first lead at 51-50 with 9:18 left.
  • The two teams clamped down on the defensive end over the next 5:30 as Texas Wesleyan scored four of the five points during that stretch prior to Jones burying a contested step-back three from the left side to draw the game even once again at 55 with 3:48 remaining.
  • The Rams rattled off six unanswered over a 1:25 stretch, but the Evangels continued to fight back with buckets by Jones and Lewis put to within three. With 51 seconds remaining, Lewis knocked down the most pivotal shot of the game when Jones found him open on the left wing on a kick-out pass from the right post, splashing the fadeaway three to tie the game up at 62-62.
  • Both teams had opportunities to take the lead in the final 28 seconds as TWU's Davion Berry missed a free throw before the Rams committed a lane violation on his second attempt. On MACU's final possession of the game, the Rams were able to poke the ball away from Lewis trying to make a drive with five seconds left as neither team could gain possession before the final horn sounded.
• Overtime
  • Both teams struggled to find a score through the first 1:24 of the OT period before Dominick Ford muscled in a layup with 3:36 left to give MACU the 64-62 edge.
  • Neither team could muster another score for the next few minutes before Ford came up clutch once again with another strong driving layup down the right side to stretch the Evangels' lead to 66-62 with 1:24 to go.
  • The Rams and Evangels traded a pair of free throws before TWU's Elijah Elliott got a left-handed hook to fall with 20 seconds left to pull Texas Wesleyan to two at 68-66.
  • With 14 seconds left, Dorsey had the chance to seal the victory from the foul line, but missed both attempts. However, the MACU defense came up big once again by forcing TWU's Vydal Bradford into committing a costly double dribble with 12 seconds left.
  • After being fouled once again, Dorsey would not miss this time as he sank both attempts from the charity stripe before MACU got another defensive stop on the Rams' final possession to seal the 70-66 victory.

 

GAME NOTES

• Both offenses struggled in the contest, as Mid-America Christian shot 25-for-71 (35.2 percent) from the field and 4-for-25 (16 percent) from three, but made the biggest difference from the free throw line by sinking 16-of-22 (72.7 percent). Texas Wesleyan finished 24-for-67 (35.8 percent) for the game, including 8-of-27 (29.6 percent) from three, but also struggled from the charity stripe by making just 10-of-19 (52.6 percent) attempts.
• While the Rams dominated the rebounding battle by a 56-41 margin, the Evangels were far more efficient in taking care of the basketball. MACU committed just 10 turnovers in 45 minutes of action, its second-fewest in a game this season while forcing TWU into 23 miscues, the most turnovers the Evangels have forced in a game this season.
• Terrance Jones once again led the MACU offense, turning his sixth 20-plus point scoring performance of the season with 21 on 7-of-20 shooting while knocking down all six of his free throw attempts. The Dallas, Texas product also led MACU on the glass with six boards and had two of the most important assists to the game to go with a block and steal on the defensive end.
• Tony Dorsey was the only other Evangel to crack in double-figures with 11 points while also ripping down six rebounds to go with a pair of assists.
• Dominick Ford finished the night with nine points and five rebounds, Jasiah Lewis scored all seven of his points in the second half and Derrick Magiya turned in seven points, five rebounds and a season-high three blocked shots.
• MACU is advancing to the Sooner Athletic Conference Semifinals for the second straight year as it is currently trying to seek its third straight trip to the NAIA National Championship Tournament.

 

NEXT UP

• Mid-America Christian will see a familiar foe in the SAC Semifinals as the Evangels will travel to Waxahachie, Texas on Saturday, Feb.27 for a 5 p.m. matchup with the No. 1 seed and nationally eighth-ranked Southwestern Assemblies of God.
• Date and time could change dependent on the completion of the currently postponed SAC Quarterfinal game between No. 2 seed Science & Arts and No. 7 seed Southwestern Christian that is tentatively scheduled to be played on Friday.