OKLAHOMA CITY – The Mid-America Christian men's basketball caught fire in the second half as the Evangels surged past Oklahoma City to come away with a pivotal 84-78 road victory against crosstown rival Oklahoma City inside an empty Abe Lemons Arena on Saturday afternoon.

 
STAT LEADERS

• Tony Dorsey – 23 PTS, 5-10 FG, 12-13 FT, 2 AST, 2 STL
• Terrance Jones – 20 PTS, 7-12 FG, 5-7 FT, 10 REB, 2 STL
• Dominick Ford – 18 PTS, 7-9 FG, 2-3 3FG, 5 REB

 

GAME SUMMARY

• 1^st Half
  • Mid-America Christian (7-2, 3-1 Sooner Athletic Conference) and Oklahoma City (1-5, 1-5 SAC) exchanged four lead changes and two ties through the first five minutes as a Terrance Jones steal and fastbreak layup gave MACU its largest lead of the half at 9-6 with 15:51 remaining.
  • Oklahoma City went on a 9-0 run over the next 3:21 to take a six-point lead before Tony Dorsey beat his defender down the right side for the uncontested layup with 11:55 to go to cut the deficit to 15-11.
  • The Stars swelled their lead to as much as 10 after scoring nine of the next 12 points to make it a 24-14 game with 5:53 left.
  • A three-point play by Dominick Ford with 5:13 on the clock jumpstarted a 10-1 Evangels run that he capped off himself with a pair of free throws with 3:04 remaining to bring it to a one-point game at 25-24.
  • Mid-America Christian kept it to within a one-possession game for the remainder of the half, but couldn't crack into the lead before the break as OCU took a 30-28 advantage into the locker room.
• 2^nd Half
  • The Stars expanded their advantage to four early in the second half on a Kori Guest three with 18:27 on the clock, setting the score to 35-31.
  • A Dorsey steal and fastbreak three-point jumper ignited the Evangels offense as MACU rattled off a 15-2 run that was finished off on a Ford layup with 13:57 remaining, giving the Evangels a 46-37 edge. Ford and Dorsey combined to score 12 of MACU's 15 points during the run.
  • Midway through the half, MACU expanded its lead to as much as 12 on a Ford triple from the top of the key and a pair of Carlos Slaughter free throws to bring it to 55-43 with 9:31 remaining.
  • Oklahoma City managed to claw back to within five at 64-59 on a Rashaun Coleman three-pointer with 4:52 to go, but Dorsey helped the Evangels push it back to double-figures on a pair of free throws and a bucket with 3:29 left in-between a Damarius Brooks free throw, extending the edge back to 69-59.
  • The Stars once again brought it to within five with 41 seconds left, but MACU was able to put the game away from the free throw line, converting on 8-for-10 from the charity stripe in the final 40 seconds to secure the 84-78 victory.

 

GAME NOTES

• After committing 11 turnovers in the first half, Mid-America Christian was able to clean things up in the second half, turning it over just three times over the final 20 minutes. While MACU also shot just 9-for-26 (34.6 percent) and 0-of-6 from three in the first half, the Evangels knocked down a blistering 17-of-31 (54.8 percent) from the floor in the second half, including 4-for-7 (57.1 percent) from behind the arc.
• For the third straight game, MACU shot better than 70 percent as a team from the free throw line, converting a season-high 28-of-38 (73.7 percent).
• In his second game back, senior guard Tony Dorsey continued to electrify from the point guard position, scoring a season-high 23 points on 5-of-10 shooting and converted 12-of-13 from the charity stripe to go with a pair of steals.
• Terrance Jones notched his second straight 20-10 double-double, scoring 20 points on 7-of-12 from the field and 5-for-7 from the foul line to go with 10 boards and two steals.
• After struggling offensively coming into the contest, senior forward Dominick Ford got back on-track by tying a career-high 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting, as he knocked down 2-for-3 from three-point range and ripped away five rebounds.
• Even though the Evangels lost four straight games, which included a pair of exhibition games to start 2021, Mid-America Christian has now gotten back on-track with three straight wins, including two consecutive road victories against Sooner Athletic Conference foes.
• Mid-America Christian improved to 3-1 in SAC play, the Evangels maintained one of the top two spots in the SAC standings along with Southwestern Assemblies of God (5-1).

 

NEXT UP

• Mid-America Christian will wrap up its three-game road stand on Thursday night as the Evangels will head to Langston, Oklahoma for a 7:45 p.m. tip-off against the Langston University Lions.