MCPHERSON, Kan. – The Mid-America Christian men's basketball team rebounded from a home loss with a big 90-78 road victory at Central Christian on Thursday night to pick up its third win in the last four games.
 
TOP PERFORMERS

• Isaiah Hammons – 20 Points, 5-10 FG, 2-5 3FG, 8-10 FT, 6 Reb, 2 Steals
• Terrance Jones – 12 Points, 4-8 FG, 4-5 FT, 7 Reb
• Tony Dorsey – 12 Points, 4-6 FG, 3-4 FT

GAME SUMMARY

• First Half
  • Central Christian jumped out to an early edge in the first half as an Isaiah Rivera layup made it 7-5 with 17:39 remaining.
  • On the ensuing possession, an Isaiah Hammons three-pointer started a 10-unanswered streak for the Evangels as a Kendall Scott layup brought the MACU lead to 15-7 with 15:43 to go.
  • The Tigers scored eight of the next 10 to close it to a two-point game before a pair of Quentin Woodson free throws pushed it back to a two-possession game at 19-15 with just over 13 minutes left.
  • CCCK managed to draw the game back even on a pair of Rivera free throws and a Ronald Jamierson bucket with 11:32 to go.
  • The Evangels swung back with seven straight off a Tony Dorsey bucket, an Isaiah Hammons three-point play and then a Terrance Jones bucket and foul with 9:28 left to make it a 26-19 contest.
  • The Tigers continued to battle back, tying it on a pair of occasions at 30 on a Reece Warren three and again at 32 off two Darrell Bryant free throws, but MACU would not concede the lead.
  • With MACU leading by one with just over three-and-a-half minutes left, the Evangels strung together a dominant run to close out the half. MACU outscored Central Christian 12-2, which included a string of nine straight finished off on a Dorsey three to set the score to 44-34 with just under two minutes remaining.
  • After a Rivera score knocked the MACU edge back down to single-digits, Hammons sent the Evangels into the half with a 47-36 advantage after burying a three with 43 seconds to go.
• Second Half
  • Mid-America Christian continued to pull away to start the second half as an Omar Boone three started an 8-2 run before Jasiah Lewis picked up a steal and fastbreak layup to wrap up the run at 55-38 with 16:28 left.
  • The Tigers scored seven of the next nine to claw their way back to 57-45 with just under 15 minutes to go following another Rivera score.
  • With 14:14 left, a Jones steal on the defensive end turned the tide back to the Evangels favor for good. After Jones was fouled, a technical was issued to the Tigers before Jones buried both free attempts. Hammons finished the MACU possession with a three-point play to bring the lead to 62-45 with 14:01 to go.
  • The Evangels wrapped up the 9-1 surge with a Jaylon Barnett runner at the 13:02 mark to give MACU its first 20-point lead at 66-46.
  • Central Christian could only knock the MACU advantage below 20 on two more occasions before the Evangels strung together a 19-8 run as a Woodson lay-in and another Lewis steal and score gave MACU its largest lead of the game at 87-57 with 4:41 on the clock.
  • The Tigers did manage to chip away at the MACU advantage, outscoring the Evangels 21-3 while playing primarily their reserves the rest of the way to wrap up the 90-78 final.

GAME NOTES

• Mid-America Christian efficiently shot 32-for-57 (56.1 percent) from the field despite converting just 7-for-20 (35 percent) from three, but also knocked down 19-for-27 (70.4 percent) from the charity stripe.
• The Evangels held the Tigers to only 24-of-70 (34.3 percent) shooting and 7-of-29 (24.1 percent) from three, but Central Christian was able to make up some ground from the foul line at 23-for-29 (79.3 percent).
• Isaiah Hammons led the MACU offensive efforts with 20 points on 5-for-10 shooting, including 2-for-5 from three while also converting 8-of-10 from the foul line. Hammons also finished with six boards.
• Terrance Jones led the rebounding efforts with seven rebounds to go with 12 points on 4-for-8 from the floor while Tony Dorsey pitched in 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting.
• Overall, 11 different players scored for the Evangels in the contest.
• Mid-America Christian won its 11^th straight against Central Christian and own a 14-1 mark against the Tigers since the 2003-04 season. The Evangels picked up their first win in McPherson since coming away with a 91-81 win back on Nov. 23, 2019.
• With the win, the Evangels improved to 10-8 overall and 3-7 in SAC play while Central Christian fell to 10-7 overall and 4-6 against league foes.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will wrap up the first half of Sooner Athletic Conference play on Saturday as the Evangels will host Langston for a 3:45 p.m. tip-off inside the Gaulke Activity Center.