OKLAHOMA CITY – After struggling on the offensive end in a home loss to Wayland Baptist on Thursday, the Mid-America Christian men's basketball team was able to get back into an offensive rhythm on Saturday afternoon to come away with an 86-71 victory over Oklahoma Panhandle State inside the Gaulke Activity Center.
 
TOP PERFORMERS

• Kendall Scott – 16 Points, 7-10 FG, 2-3 FT, 9 Reb
• Caleb Riggs – 15 Points, 5-12 FG, 3-9 3FG, 2-3 FT
• Tony Dorsey – 9 Points, 4-7 FG, 7 Assists, 4 Reb, 2 Steals

GAME SUMMARY

• First Half
  • Mid-America Christian's Caleb Riggs opened the game with a three-pointer from the wing on the first possession of the game, but Oklahoma Panhandle State strung together a 10-3 immediately following as an Alfred Alkannama layup with 17:23 remaining to give the Aggies the four-point cushion.
  • Kendall Scott scored layups on back-to-back possessions to tie the game back up, but OPSU once again pushed back in-front by scoring five of the next seven as an Auston Chatman three made it 15-12 with 14:27 left.
  • Following a timeout, Riggs buried his second three of the game from the right corner before Justin Pile and Omar Boone traded layups to tie it up at 17-all with 11:41 on the clock.
  • Boone briefly gave MACU the lead again with a highly contested layup with 10:39 left before OSPU's Jalen Thomas hit a jumper to draw it back even with 10:25 to go.
  • A Dorsey jumper off a Quentin Woodson dish pushed the Evangels back in-front before Boone came away with a steal to lead to a fastbreak layup for Woodson to give MACU its largest lead of the contest at this point at 23-19 with 8:47 remaining.
  • Panhandle State scored five in a row to briefly re-take the lead on an Alkannama layup with 7:40 left, but Mid-America Christian put together a huge run to gain all of the momentum.
  • After Woodson knocked down a pair of free throws on the ensuing possession to give MACU the lead back, the Evangels strung together a string of 13-unanswered points.
  • Following a Boone layup, a Tarrence Gaines fastbreak three-point play invigorated the MACU momentum. A pair of Woodson layups led up to a Jasiah Lewis offensive rebound and put-back with 3:11 left, wrapping up the Evangels run at 36-24.
  • The Aggies scored six of the next nine to trim the MACU advantage to single digits, but Isaiah Hammons drained a pair of free throws on the Evangels' final possession of the half to give MACU the 41-30 cushion at the break.
• Second Half
  • After conceding a Rayquan Elliott free throw on the first possession, Hammons picked up where he left off the first half with a three-pointer to swell the MACU lead to 44-31 just 29 seconds in.
  • OPSU chipped away at the MACU edge over the next three minutes, stringing together an 8-3 run as Elliott's fastbreak lay-in brought it back to single-digits at 47-39 with 16:46 to go.
  • Following a Hammons free throw, the Mid-America Christian defense was able to generate some quick offense as a Tony Dorsey steal led to a fastbreak layup for Jasiah Lewis before a Lewis steal led to an incredible behind the back pass by Hammons to Scott, who slammed home a dunk and drew the foul to finish off a three-point play at 53-39 with 15:38 left.
  • The Evangels run continued following the big play as layups by Hammons and Scott closed out the 10-unanswered streak at 57-39 with 14:02 left.
  • An Elliott layup on the following possession only briefly halted the MACU surge as Dorsey and Toni Kumanovic combined to score all 13 of MACU's points during a 13-3 run. Dorsey finished it off with a fastbreak lay-in off a Woodson outlet to bring it to 70-44 with 9:55 on the clock.
  • Oklahoma Panhandle State swung back with a 13-2 run of its own as a Thomas fastbreak layup off an Alkannama steal closed it to a 72-57 game with 7:38 remaining.
  • The Evangels were able to keep the Aggies from climbing any closer over the next four minutes as three-pointers from Gaines, Kumanovic and Riggs allowed MACU to push it back out to an 83-64 lead with 3:28 to go.
  • The Aggies struggled to gain much ground over the final three minutes as MACU held OPSU to only seven points during the final stretch to secure the 86-71 win.

GAME SUMMARY

• Mid-America Christian was efficient on the offensive end, shooting 32-of-66 (48.5 percent) from the field while converting 9-for-25 (36 percent) from beyond the arc. The Evangels also had a much better day from the foul line, knocking down 13-for-18 (72.2 percent).
• The Aggies were held to only 27-of-62 (43.5 percent) from the floor and 6-for-17 (35.3 percent) from range, but did convert 11-for-15 (73.3 percent) from the charity stripe.
• The Evangels were able to take advantage of extra opportunities by forcing 17 OPSU turnovers while committing just 13 on MACU's end and also held a slight 35-33 edge on the glass.
• Senior forward Kendall Scott led MACU with 16 points on a blazing 7-for-10 shooting and went 2-of-3 from the foul line while narrowly missing a double-double with nine boards.
• Caleb Riggs chipped in 15 points on 5-of-12 from the field and went 3-for-9 from the three-point arc.
• Isaiah Hammons rounded out MACU's double-digit scorers with 11 points to go with four rebounds and three assists.
• Tony Dorsey had a solid floor game to go with his nine points on 4-of-7 shooting, as he finished with a game-high seven assists to go with two steals.
• Overall, MACU was balanced on the offensive end as seven players finished with at least eight points as Toni Kumanovic (9), Tarrence Gaines (8) and Quentin Woodson (8) provided a big spark off the Evangels bench.
• Mid-America Christian split the season series with the Aggies after the Evangels dropped a heartbreaker in Goodwell, Okla. by a score of 71-68 in overtime on Nov. 18, 2021.
• With the win, Mid-America Christian moved to 12-9 on the season and 5-8 in Sooner Athletic Conference play while Oklahoma Panhandle State fell to 8-11 and 5-9 against SAC foes.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will be looking to avenge another earlier season loss on Monday as the Evangels will wrap-up their four-game home stand against Southwestern Christian. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:45 p.m. inside the Gaulke Activity Center.