OKLAHOMA CITY – The Mid-America Christian men's basketball team held off a late Southwestern Christian rally to close out its four-game home stand with a 94-85 victory inside the Gaulke Activity Center on Monday night.
 
TOP PERFORMERS

• Caleb Riggs – 20 Points, 6-11 FG, 6-10 3FG, 2-2 FT, 3 Reb
• Tony Dorsey – 17 Points, 5-10 FG, 2-2 3FG, 5-7 FT, 7 Reb, 7 Assists, 3 Steals
• Toni Kumanovic – 15 Points, 5-9 FG, 4-8 3FG, 2 Reb

GAME SUMMARY

• First Half
  • Southwestern Christian opened the contest by scoring five of the first eight as a Khristien White jumper gave the Eagles the 5-3 edge with just over 16 minutes left.
  • A pair of Tony Dorsey free throws on the ensuing possession ignited an eight unanswered run as three-pointers by Jasiah Lewis and Toni Kumanovic pushed MACU in-front 11-5 with 14:31 to go.
  • SCU's Ronald Moore knocked down a jumper on the next possession to briefly stop MACU's surge, but the Evangels swung back with a 7-2 spurt featuring a Kumanovic three and technical free throw and a Riggs triple with 11:04 remaining to bring the lead to 18-9.
  • The Eagles rattled off five straight to close it to four on a Darrin Ryan three and a White jumper, but MACU swung back with an 8-3 surge featuring threes from Riggs and Omar Boone to make it a 26-17 Evangels advantage with 7:16 left.
  • Following a Derek Dantzler jump-shot, Mid-America Christian took its largest lead of the half on threes from Tony Dorsey and Riggs, setting the score to 32-19 with 4:39 on the clock.
  • SCU notched six straight on buckets from Jakeem Wynn, Dantlzer and Ronald Moore to close it to a 32-25 MACU edge with 3:08 left.
  • Mid-America Christian extended its edge out to double-digits off two Riggs free throws and a Kumanovic three-ball with 2:18 to go, but Dantzler buried a three on the ensuing possession to trim it back to single-figures at 37-28 heading into the halftime break.
• Second Half
  • On Southwestern Christian's first possession of the half, Ronald Moore knocked down a jumper to trim the Eagles deficit to seven, but Mid-America Christian quickly regathered the momentum following a Kendall Scott lay-in on the following possession.
  • The Evangels were offensively sharp through the first 5:13 as MACU went on an 18-4 surge. Kendall Scott and Riggs combined to score 13 of MACU's 18 points during the run as Scott's layup off a Lewis dish set the Evangels' advantage to 55-36 with 14:47 left.
  • The Eagles chipped away the MACU edge over the next three minutes as a 10-4 run was finished off by Ronald Washington's three with 12:01 to close the SCU gap to 59-46.
  • Midway through the half, the Evangels' strong defense led to some quick-hitting offense as the MACU rattled off eight unanswered on a Dorsey three and fastbreak layup following a Quentin Woodson block and outlet pass. Kumanovic drained another three with 9:44 on the clock to give the Evangels their largest lead of the contest at 69-48.
  • The Eagles defense battled back in a big way over a four-minute stretch as SCU outscored Mid-America Christian 16-4 before White's three cut it to a single-digit deficit at 73-64 with 5:45 remaining.
  • A pair of Dorsey free throws on the following possession briefly pushed the MACU advantage back to double-figures, but Southwestern Christian continued to surge back with a 10-2 run as two Benjamin York free throws made it a one-possession game at 77-75 with 1:32 left.
  • On MACU's next possession, Isaiah Hammons made a tremendous kick-out pass from the left wing to the left corner as Lewis drained a corner three to push the Evangels' edge to 80-75 with 1:04 remaining.
  • The Evangels defensive shut down the Eagles in the final minute, holding SCU to four scoreless possessions while Lewis and Hammons each knocked down a pair of free throws to secure the 84-75 victory.

GAME SUMMARY

• Mid-America Christian effectively shot 27-of-47 (47.4 percent) from the field and put together one of their best outside shooting performances of the season, knocking down 15-of-31 (48.4 percent) from downtown while going 15-for-22 (68.2 percent) from the free throw line.
• The 15 three-pointers made by MACU set a season-high while the 48.4 percent clip was the second-highest three-point percentage only behind a 14-for-22 (63.6 percent) mark notched against Bacone on Nov. 23, 2021.
• While Southwestern Christian was able to outshoot the Evangels 28-of-56 (50 percent), the Eagles couldn't match MACU's long-range game by knocking down only 7-for-26 (26.9 percent) while also going just 12-of-20 (60 percent) from the charity stripe.
• Mid-America Christian outrebounded the Eagles by a 36-to-30 margin while SCU held a slight 16-to-17 edge in the turnover differential.
• Caleb Riggs snapped out of a shooting slump from the three-point arc in a big way, going 6-for-10 from range and knocked down two free throws to finish with a game-high 20 points.
• Tony Dorsey also notched a stellar offensive and defensive game, scoring 17 points on 5-for-10 from the field, 2-of-2 from three and 5-of-7 from the foul line to go with a team-leading seven steals to just two turnovers, seven rebounds and three steals.
• Senior guard Toni Kumanovic poured in a career-high 15 points on 5-for-9 from the floor and 4-of-8 from three.
• Jasiah Lewis rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points on 3-of-8 shooting and 2-for-3 from three.
• Isaiah Hammons led the Evangels rebounding efforts with eight boards to go with six assists and three steals along with six points.
• Derek Dantzler led the Eagles offensively with 17 points on 6-for-12 from the floor, 2-of-3 from three and 3-of-4 from the foul line with six boards.
• By getting the victory, Mid-America Christian avenged a heartbreaking 68-67 loss at Southwestern Christian back on Dec. 7, 2021 to split the season series with the Eagles.
• The win also propelled the Evangels to a 13-9 overall record and a 6-8 Sooner Athletic Conference league mark while the Eagles dropped to 10-7 and 8-6 in conference play.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will now head to Fort Worth, Texas for a Thursday night contest against one of the leaders in the SAC in Texas Wesleyan. Tip-off is slated for 7:45 p.m. inside the Sid Richardson Center.