BETHANY, Okla. – The Mid-America Christian men's basketball team trailed by as much as 17 with just under 11 minutes to go in the second half, but continued to fight back as the Evangels rallied for a big 75-73 road victory inside Pickens-Springer Gymnasium at Southwestern Christian on Thursday night.

 
STAT LEADERS

• Terrance Jones – 21 PTS, 7-11 FG, 7-11 FT, 10 REB, 3 AST, 2 STL
• Tony Dorsey – 21 PTS, 7-10 FG, 6-7 FT, 4 REB, 3 AST, 1 STL
• Jasiah Lewis – 14 PTS, 5-7 FG, 2-3 3FG, 2-2 FT, 3 REB, 2 AST, 1 STL

 

GAME SUMMARY

• 1^st Half
  • Jasiah Lewis gave Mid-America Christian (6-2, 2-1 Sooner Athletic Conference) its first only lead of the half at the 18:18 mark by splitting defenders down the left side for a layup to make it a 6-5 game. However, Southwestern Christian (5-6, 4-4 SAC) quickly responded with five unanswered to reclaim a 10-6 edge with 16:53 remaining.
  • MACU cut it to two on Terrance Jones' fadeaway jumper in the paint to bring it to 10-8, but the Eagles strung together a 14-5 run to extend their lead to 24-13 on a pair of Charles Dickson free throws with 10:39 to go.
  • Trailing by 10, the Evangels chipped away on a strong take by Dominick Ford take to the basket followed by a Damarius Brooks three from the left corner with 5:59 left, setting the score to 29-24.
  • After trading a pair of buckets, the Eagles surged away by rattling off nine straight to take their largest advantage of the half at 40-26 on a Khristien White three with 1:59 remaining.
  • Tony Dorsey hit a fastbreak layup with 30 seconds left to briefly make it a 12-point deficit, but Charles Dickson for SCU managed to convert one of two free throws on the Eagles' final possession of the half to send Southwestern Christian into the break with a 41-28 edge.
• 2^nd Half
  • The Eagles quickly extended their lead to 17 in the early going on a Dickson three-pointer with 15:56 on the clock to make it a 51-34 game.
  • Mid-America Christian tallied seven straight behind a Jones layup, a pair of Dorsey free throws and a Lewis three to cut the deficit to 51-41 with 14:33 to go.
  • Southwestern Christian swelled its edge back to 17 on a pair of White free throws to set the score to 60-43 with 10:58 remaining.
  • MACU went on an 18-2 run over the next five minutes as Jones knocked down two free throws with 6:10 left to trim the MACU deficit to 62-61.
  • The Eagles scored 11 of the next 13 to extend their advantage to 73-63 with 3:04 left.
  • The MACU defense locked down over the final three minutes, not allowing SCU to score again for the remainder of the game. The Evangels chipped away until a pair of Jasiah Lewis free throws brought it to a one-point game once again at 73-72 with 1:07 left.
  • On the ensuing possession, Terrance Jones came up with a big defensive rebound after forcing the Eagles to take a contested three-pointer late in the shot clock. On MACU's next offensive possession, Jones dribbled into the paint and lost the ball going up on a tightly contested shot, but Malik Malone was in the right place at the right time as he tipped the loose ball through for the go-ahead bucket with 25 seconds to go to make it a 74-73 Evangels lead.
  • MACU forced SCU's White into missing a tightly contested three before Jones ripped down the defensive board and was fouled, knocking down one of two free throws to extend the MACU edge to 75-73 with five seconds left.
  • Southwestern Christian had an opportunity at a game-winning three, but Dickson's shot bounced off the rim and York Benjamin's putback came after the horn sounded as MACU held on for the win.

 

GAME NOTES

• After the Evangels struggled defensively in the first half with Southwestern Christian scoring on 14-of-29 (48.2 percent) of its shots and went 8-for-17 (47.1 percent) from three, Mid-America Christian clamped down in the second half, limiting SCU to just 11-for-33 (33.3 percent) shooting and 5-for-19 (26.3 percent) from beyond the arc.
• MACU finished the contest 25-for-48 (52.1 percent) from the field, but struggled from beyond the arc, converting just 4-of-19 (28.6 percent) from three. The Evangels were aggressive in their attack and took advantage of their opportunities from the free throw line, making 21-of-26 (80.8 percent) of their attempts, including 17-of-21 (81 percent) in the second half.
• Albeit not by design, Mid-America Christian faced Southwestern Christian in three straight games. The Evangels dropped a heartbreaking 80-77 defeat in Bethany, Oklahoma on Jan. 11 before having four straight games either canceled or postponed due to COVID-19 procedures. MACU topped SCU inside the Gaulke Activity Center 67-63 on Jan. 25 before having two more games canceled prior to their meeting tonight in Pickens-Springer Gymnasium.
• Returning from injury and competing in his first game of the season, senior guard Tony Dorsey led the MACU offense with 21 points on 7-of-10 shooting and converted 6-of-7 from the charity stripe while ripping down four rebounds and dished out a team-high three assists.
• Terrance Jones put together another big game in Bethany, scoring 21 points on 7-for-11 shooting and also went 7-for-11 from the free throw line to go with 10 rebounds, three assists and two steals.
• Jasiah Lewis was the only other Evangel to break double-figures with 14 points on 5-of-7 from the field and 2-for-3 from beyond the arc to go with a pair of free throws.

 

NEXT UP

• Mid-America Christian will head uptown to Oklahoma City University on Saturday for a 2 p.m. matchup with the Stars. No fans will be permitted inside Abe Lemons Arena for this game.