OKLAHOMA CITY – The Mid-America Christian men's basketball team had to fend off a red-hot shooting Ozark Christian team in its home-opener inside the Gaulke Activity Center on Saturday, but the Evangels were able to fend off Ozark Christian due to some stellar free throw shooting to secure the 105-100 victory.
TOP PERFORMERS
- DaRaun Clark – 22 Points, 7-17 FG, 8-8 FT, 7 Reb
- Eylan Goodwyn – 15 Points, 6-9 FG, 2-2 FT, 2 Reb
- Quentin Woodson – 13 Points, 4-5 FG, 5-9 FT, 3 Reb
GAME SUMMARY
- First Half
- Mid-America Christian got off to a fast start as the Evangels scored on their first possession as Tarrence Gaines nailed a mid-range jumper before coming up with a steal and relay on a Seth Hurd fastbreak layup to make it a 4-0 game. However, Ozark Christian outscored the Evangels 8-2 over the next three minute to take an 8-6 lead on a Caleb Brown three-point play at the 16:20 mark.
- MACU briefly took the lead back following a Jasiah Lewis layup with just over 14 minutes left, but the Ambassdors knocked down three straight threes during a nine unanswered streak as OCC took its largest lead of the game on a Joel Pugh three to make it 19-12 with 12:27 on the clock.
- Two possessions later, the Evangels took back momentum behind an Eylan Goodwyn three-ball as MACU rattled off 11 unanswered to start a 19-5 run as a pair of Jonathan Alexandre foul shots pushed the Evangels' edge out to 33-24 with 6:50 to go.
- Following a Jaylon Barnett three-point play with 6:18 left to push the lead out to nine, the Ambassadors closed out the half by outscoring MACU 13-6 as a Brown hoop-and-harm with 43 seconds to go made it a 42-40 game going into the halftime break.
- MACU slightly outshot Ozark Christian in the half as the Evangels went 17-for-35 (48.6 percent) from the field, but knocked down just 4-of-11 (36.4 percent) from the three-point arc and 4-for-6 (66.7 percent) from the charity stripe. Meanwhile the Ambassadors went 14-for-31 (45.2 percent) with a 7-of-17 (41.2 percent) clip from the three-point arc and 5-of-10 (50 percent) from the foul line.
- Mid-America Christian's scoring was balanced across the board as four different players scored six points (Jaylon Barnett, Conner Calavan, DaRaun Clark, Seth Hurd) while Ozark Christian's offense ran primarily through Aason Cross and Joel Pugh, who combined to score 24 of the Ambassadors' 40 points.
- Second Half
- Ozark Christian opened the second half by scoring the first five points behind a Pugh three and a Brown jumper, but the Evangels immediately countered with an 11-3 run capped off on a highlight reel dunk by Travonte Doolittle off the Jasiah Lewis steal to make it a 53-48 MACU lead with 17:20 remaining.
- After a Pugh three-pointer briefly closed the gap to two at 56-54 at the 16:38 mark, the Evangels scored 14 of the next 19 points as a Goodwyn steal and fastbreak layup swelled the MACU advantage to 70-59 with 12:31 to go.
- Following another Brown three-point play for OCC to bring the lead back down to single-digits, MACU put together another strong run over the next four minutes as the Evangels outscored the Ambassadors 15-4 to build an 85-66 lead off a pair of Alexandre free throws at the 8:06 mark.
- A 10-1 OCC run closed it back to within 10 before two more Alexandre foul shots followed by a Clark layup briefly pushed the Evangels' edge out to 90-76 with 5:31 on the clock.
- Ozark Christian streaked back with an 18-5 surge as a Cross triple closed it to a one-point game at 95-94 with 2:05 left to go.
- Mid-America Christian put together a stellar minute of play following the Cross three. After Alexandre knocked down a pair from the charity stripe, the Evangels defense forced an OCC shot clock violation before Quentin Woodson emphatically slammed it down on the ensuing possession to bring the lead back out to 99-94 with just over a minute to go.
- Cross buried a three-pointer with 47 seconds left to briefly close the gap back to three, but the Evangels finished strong by knocking down six of their eight free throw attempts to seal a 105-100 win.
- Mid-America Christian scored its 63 second half points on a blazing 18-of-29 (62.1 percent) shooting clip despite knocking down just 2-for-8 (25 percent) from three. The Evangels also efficiently converted on 25-of-29 (86.2 percent) from the foul line.
- Ozark Christian kept it close due to some blistering shooting from the field and three-point arc, as the Ambassadors finished 20-for-38 (52.6 percent) from the field and 10-of-23 (43.5 percent) from three-point range while also going 10-for-12 (83.6 percent) from the line.
- Despite being kept in-check in the first half, Clark came up big in the second half with 16 points while Woodson, Goodwyn and Doolittle put up strong offensive numbers with 11, 10 and nine points apiece.
- After getting outrebounded 21-20 in the first half, the Evangels did a much better job on the glass in the second half with a 23-12 edge in the rebounding department.
GAME NOTES
- For the second straight game, Mid-America Christian shot better than 50 percent from the field by finishing 35-of-64 (54.7 percent) from the floor while knocking down just 6-for-19 (31.6 percent) from three. MACU also shot better than 80-percent from the charity stripe once again by knocking down 29-for-35 (82.9 percent).
- Ozark Christian also turned in a strong overall offensive performance, going 34-for-69 (49.3 percent) from the field, 17-of-40 (42.5 percent) from three and 15-for-22 (68.2 percent) from the foul line.
- DaRaun Clark led the MACU offensive efforts once again with 22 points on 7-of-17 from the field and 8-for-8 from the free throw line while also pulling down a team-high seven boards.
- Four Evangels scored in double-digits with Eylan Goodwyn pouring in a career-high 15 points on 6-of-9 from the floor while Quentin Woodson and Conner Calavan also produced off the MACU bench with Woodson dropping 13 points and Calavan tallying 11 with each player going 4-for-5 from the field.
- Jaylon Barnett and Travonte Doolittle also each narrowly missed breaking into double-figure scoring with nine points apiece. Barnett also led MACU's passing efforts with five of the team's 12 assists.
- Overall, 11 different Evangels scored in the contest with nine players scoring six or more points.
- Mid-America Christian won the rebounding battle by a 43-33 margin while also maintained better ball control with just 10 turnovers while forcing 12 Ambassador miscues.
- With the win, Mid-America Christian improved to 2-0 on the season while Ozark Christian fell to 1-1. The Evangels are also now 9-0 all-time against the Ambassadors after being OCC in back-to-back seasons.
- Mid-America Christian held the program's inaugural Alumni Game following the completion of the contest.
UP NEXT
- Mid-America Christian will hit the road next week as the Evangels will travel to Omaha, Neb. on Tuesday, Nov. 1. MACU will take on NCAA Division I Omaha in an exhibition contest. Tip-off is slated for 7:05 p.m. inside Baxter Arena.
