OKLAHOMA CITY – The Mid-America Christian men's basketball team struggled offensively in its first contest of 2022 as the Evangels dropped an 80-58 decision to No. 6 Southwestern Assemblies of God in a New Year's Day afternoon matchup inside the Gaulke Activity Center on Saturday.
 
TOP PERFORMERS

• Kendall Scott – 18 Points, 7-11 FG, 2-2 3FG, 6 Reb
• Omar Boone – 8 Points, 3-9 FG, 2-3 FT, 3 Assists
• Tony Dorsey – 7 Points, 5-6 FT, 4 Assists, 3 Reb, 2 Steals

GAME SUMMARY

• First Half
  • Southwestern Assemblies of God jumped out to a quick lead off of back-to-back threes from Noah Boling and Isaiah Boling before Toni Kumanovic completed a four-point play with 18:25 left to make it a 6-4 contest.
  • Following a Nykolas Mason layup, the Evangels rattled off four of the next five off of lay-ins from Caleb Riggs and Tony Dorsey to close it to 9-8 with 16:51 to go.
  • The Evangels struggled to maintain any sort of offensive momentum as MACU was unable to make a field goal over the next 8:48. The Lions outscored MACU 23-6 over that stretch before a Kendall Scott layup made it a 32-16 game with 8:03 remaining.
  • SAGU pushed its lead out to 20 for the first time off a pair of Mason free throws with 6:17 on the clock before the Evangels countered with a Scott layup and a Caleb Riggs three to bring it to 36-21 at the 4:23 mark.
  • The Lions closed out the half by scoring eight of the final 10 points to take a 44-23 advantage into the halftime break.
• Second Half
  • Mid-America Christian scored the first three points off a Tony Dorsey free throw and an Omar Boone jumper before the Lions rattled off a 10-2 run to take their largest lead of the game at 54-28 with 15:44 to go.
  • A Boone layup with 14:57 left jumpstarted a nine-unanswered surge from the Evangels. Jaylon Barnett was able to get a lay-in to fall with 13:11 on the clock to end the run at 54-37.
  • A Joshua Kashila score pushed the Lions advantage back out to 20 at the midway point of the second half at 59-39 before MACU swung back with a 6-1 run as Caleb Riggs three at the 8:15 mark cut it to a 60-45 deficit.
  • The Evangels struggled to slow down SAGU over the next three minutes as the Lions pushed its advantage back out to 24 at 71-47 with 4:29 left following an 11-2 surge.
  • Mid-America Christian was only able to knock the Lions' edge to under 20 just once for the remainder of the contest on a Scott three from the top of the key with 2:12 remaining to make it 75-56 before SAGU closed out the 80-58 win.

GAME NOTES

• Mid-America Christian could only muster 7-for-33 (21.1 percent) shooting in the first half, including going 2-of-13 (15.4 percent) from three. However, the Evangels were able to put together a stronger offensive half in the second by knocking down 13-of-26 (50 percent) from the field and 3-for-8 (37.5 percent) from beyond the arc.
• The Evangels struggled to slow down a red-hot SAGU roster that converted 28-for-54 (51.9 percent) of its shot attempts while going 8-of-20 (40 percent) from downtown.
• The Lions controlled the glass by a 43-30 margin while MACU defensively forced 18 turnovers while committing 16 on the offensive end.
• Senior forward Kendall Scott had a strong showing in his Evangels debut, scoring a team-high 18 points on 7-for-11 shooting while knocking down 2-of-2 from three. Scott also turned in a team-best six boards.
• Caleb Riggs and Omar Boone each finished with eight points apiece while Tony Dorsey turned in seven points while dishing out a team-high four assists.
• Mid-America Christian dropped its fourth straight after seeing the court for the first time in 26 days with two of those losses coming to nationally-ranked teams.
• The Evangels fell to 7-7 overall and 0-6 in Sooner Athletic Conference play while Southwestern Assemblies of God improved to 9-2 and remained unblemished in league play at 6-0.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will be back in-action on Monday as the Evangels will host UNT-Dallas for the first time. The Evangels will be taking on the SAC newcomer for a 7:45 p.m. tip-off inside the Gaulke Activity Center.