OKLAHOMA CITY – Senior guard Isaiah Hammons made history on Thursday night inside the Gaulke Activity Center as he broke MACU's NAIA Era single game steals record with eight thefts, but the Evangels were not able to overcome their shooting woes in a 62-57 defeat to Wayland Baptist.
 
TOP PERFORMERS

• Isaiah Hammons – 14 Points, 4-9 FG, 6-8 FT, 8 Steals, 6 Reb, 2 Assists
• Terrance Jones – 14 Points, 6-12 FG, 6 Reb
• Caleb Riggs – 11 Points

GAME SUMMARY

• First Half
  • Wayland Baptist set the tone in the early going by scoring the first seven points during a 10-2 run to open the game, capping the Pioneers run on a Jordan Brannon jumper with 16:57 remaining.
  • Tony Dorsey made a high degree of difficulty lay-up on the ensuing possession before a Kendall Scott free throw at the 16:26 mark trimmed the Mid-America Christian deficit to 10-5.
  • Both teams struggled to score over the next six minutes as two teams combined to score just eight points before Brannon extended the Pioneers edge to 17-9 on a three-ball with 10:45 on the clock.
  • Neither squad was able to find a score over a near four-minute stretch before a Scott free throw started a five-unanswered run for the Evangels as a Terrance Jones fastbreak layup off an Isaiah Hammons steal cut the WBU lead to just 17-14 with 6:13 left.
  • Three Pioneers free throws doubled up the WBU advantage before Hammons finished off a three-point play with 3:50 remaining to pull it back to 20-17.
  • Wayland Baptist strung together a 6-2 run to reclaim a 26-19 lead off an RJ Mason three-point play, but Mid-America Christian finished the half strong by piecing together a 7-2 surge of their own to close it to 28-26 on Jones' jumper the 46 second mark to send the Evangels into the half down just two.
• Second Half
  • MACU established the early momentum to start the final 20-minute stretch as a Scott layup on the Evangels' opening possession followed by a Caleb Riggs three on the next possession gave MACU its first lead of the game at 31-28.
  • The Pioneers were able to slow down the MACU offense over the next five minutes as WBU put together a 5-2 run in that stretch to tie it at 33-33 on a pair of Parrish Hewitt foul shots with 15:17 to go.
  • It was a back-and-forth battle as the two teams swapped leads four times before Mid-America Christian strung together 10 unanswered points that featured two Hammons steals and coast-to-coast dunks, including one with 9:31 left to make it a 47-38 Evangels advantage.
  • Wayland Baptist swung back with a defensive clamp-down over the next five minutes as the Pioneers put together a 12-4 surge, shrinking the MACU edge to 51-50 on a Mason jump-shot with 4:43 on the clock.
  • Riggs buried a three-pointer late in the MACU possession to briefly stop the surge, but Mason scored the next four for the Pioneers to tie the game up at 54-all with 3:16 remaining.
  • Hammons and WBU's Thad Udoh traded a pair of free throws apiece to keep it tied before Hammons knocked down one of two with 1:24 left to give MACU its final lead of the game at 57-56.
  • The MACU offense went ice cold in the final minute as Wayland Baptist took the lead and held the Evangels at-bay by knocking down 6-for-7 from the charity stripe to come away with the 62-57 road win.

GAME SUMMARY

• In the low-scoring affair, Mid-America Christian was able to execute better on the offensive end, converting on 20-of-51 (39.2 percent) of its shot attempts while Wayland Baptist could only knock down 17-of-46 (37 percent). Neither team was efficient from the three-point arc as MACU made just 4-for-19 (21.1 percent) while the Pioneers finished only 2-for-17 (11.8 percent).
• The biggest difference in the contest came from the free throw as Mid-America Christian struggled from the charity stripe, burying only 13-of-27 (48.1 percent) while Wayland Baptist finished with a highly efficient 26-for-31 (83.9 percent).
• Wayland Baptist won the rebounding battle by a 39-to-30 discrepancy, but the Evangels defense forced the Pioneers into committing 25 turnovers while the Evangels made 18 miscues for the match.
• Senior guard Isaiah Hammons led the Evangels both offensively and defensively as he finished with 14 points on 4-of-9 shooting and went 6-for-8 from the free throw line to go with six boards and two assists.
• Hammons joined some elite company with his eight steals as he broke the program's single game NAIA Era records that were previously held by a pair of MACU greats who had seven apiece as Brandon Williams set the mark with seven against John Brown on Jan. 15, 2009 before Semar Farris tied the mark twice.
• Terrance Jones also finished with 14 points on 6-for-12 from the field while also finishing with six boards.
• Caleb Riggs was the only other Evangel to break double-figures with 11 points while Tony Dorsey led the rebounding efforts with seven boards and three steals to go with seven points on 3-for-6 shooting.
• The Evangels struggled to slow down WBU's RJ Mason, who finished with a game-high 26 points on 7-of-15 shooting and 12-for-13 from the free throw line, but the Evangels were able to force the junior guard into committing eight turnovers.
• Wayland Baptist has taken the season series with the Evangels after the Pioneers topped MACU 57-54 in Plainview, Texas in another defensive battle back on Nov. 20, 2021.
• With the loss, Mid-America Christian fell to 11-9 overall with a 4-8 record in Sooner Athletic Conference play while Wayland Baptist improved to 10-10 overall and 6-7 against SAC competition.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will be looking to try and get back on-track on Saturday as the Evangels will be back in the Gaulke Activity Center for a 3:45 p.m. tip-off against Oklahoma Panhandle State.