OKLAHOMA CITY – After guiding the Mid-America Christian men's basketball team to a pair of big Sooner Athletic Conference road wins last week, head coach Josh Gamblin was selected as the HoopDirt.com NAIA Coach of the Week on Monday.

Opening the week at Southwestern Christian on Thursday, Feb. 4, the Evangels needed to come up with a big time rally when they found themselves down 60-43 with 10:58 left in the second half. MACU switched up its defensive strategy over the final 10 minutes, allowing the Evangels to close out the game with a 32-13 run as MACU jumped in-front on Malik Malone's tip-shot with 23 seconds left to make it 74-73 at the time. The Evangels were able to hold SCU scoreless over the final 3:03, coming up with a big defensive stop on the Eagles to secure the 75-73 win.

Mid-America Christian once again made some strong second half adjustments after the Evangels found themselves down 30-28 at the halftime break against Oklahoma City on Saturday. After committing 11 first half turnovers, MACU made just three offensive miscues in the second half as the Evangels shot 54.8 percent from the field, 57.1 percent from three and 75 percent from the free throw line to outscore the Stars 56-48 to come away with the 84-78 victory.

At the conclusion of the week, the Evangels hold a two-way tie for first place in the Sooner Athletic Conference with Southwestern Assemblies of God with a 7-2 overall record and a 3-1 mark in conference play.

In his sixth season at Mid-America Christian, Gamblin has amassed a 124-55 (.692) record, including a 64-38 (.627) mark in conference play while leading the Evangels to an NAIA National Championship in 2016 and the SAC regular season title in 2020.

With Gamblin being selected as the HoopDirt.com Coach of the Week, he is now eligible for the site's prestigious NAIA Coach of the Year award.