MCPHERSON, Kan. - The Mid-America Christian men's basketball team will have to wait a little longer to acquire its first win in Sooner Athletic Conference play as the Evangels suffered a heartbreaking 67-64 loss at Central Christian inside Jerry Alexander Arena on Saturday.
TOP PERFORMERS
- Trevonte Doolittle - 16 Points, 6-13 FG, 2-5 3FG, 6 Reb, 2 Steals
- Seth Hurd - 14 Points, 6-10 FG, 5 Reb
- DaRaun Clark - 9 Points, 12 Reb, 3 Assists
GAME SUMMARY
- First Half
- The Evangels got off to a hot start by jumping out to an 8-0 lead behind a pair of three-pointers from DaRaun Clark and Trevonte Doolittle before Jaylon Barnett got the put-back layup off of Seth Hurd's rebound and dish with 16:21 left.
- After Central Christian finally got on-the-board off an Isaiah Rivera bucket, the Evangels were able to extend their lead to 13 at 15-2 on an Eylan Goodwyn three-ball, a Seth Hurd fastbreak layup and a pair of Clark foul shots with 14:14 left.
- After Rivera and Goodwyn traded buckets, the Tigers clawed their way back by utilizing an 11-3 run behind a pair of Demario Moore three-pointers and a Reece Warren triple before Jakir Hampton nailed a pull-up jumper from the left elbow to make it a 20-15 game with 9:10 to go.
- Back-to-back three-pointers by Conner Calavan off of two Barnett dimes would get the MACU lead back up to 11 with 7:17 remaining, but following a Tigers timeout, Central Christian put together a quick 7-0 run capped off on a strong finish by Rivera on the left baseline to trim the MACU lead down 26-22 with 5:04 to play.
- The Tigers would eventually tie it on a Rivera layup with two minutes to go for the first matching score of the night.
- Tarrence Gaines would get the lead back for MACU with a layup at the 1:17 mark, but the Tigers tied it at 31 going into half on Andre Shelby's step-back jumper on the left side with 51 seconds left.
- Second Half
- Mid-America Christian got off to a strong start by scoring 10 of the first 13 points as a Clark put-back with 16:30 remaining pushed the MACU advantage out to 41-34.
- Central Christian continued to chisel away at the MACU lead over the next few minutes as Shelby finished off a three-point play with 14:08 left to close it to 43-42.
- The Evangels managed to hang onto the lead for most of the half before Rivera went coast-to-coast for the fastbreak layup to tie it up at 55 with 5:43 to go.
- Hurd and Rivera traded the next three buckets to put MACU back in-front with 2:17 remaining, but Central Christian locked down defensively as a pair of Shelby foul shots tied it up before Rivera gave the Tigers their first and only lead of the game with 1:02 remaining.
- CCCK came up with a huge defensive stop on the ensuing possession as Shelby's block led to a Warren fastbreak layup with 32 seconds left to push the Tigers' edge out to 63-59.
- Doolittle came up with a huge three on the following possession as Barnett drove down the lane before scooping a pass to the left corner for the three-ball, making it a 63-62 contest with 22 seconds left.
- Rivera was able to capitalize from a pair of trips to the free throw line on the next two Central Christian possessions as he knocked down all four of his attempts in-between a Barnett quick take to the rim, bringing it to a 67-64 game with just 6.9 seconds remaining.
- On MACU's final possession, Barnett dribbled toward the right corner before pulling up for the buzzer-beating three, but his attempt was left just short to wrap-up the 67-64 final.
GAME NOTES
- Mid-America Christian struggled from the floor all night as the Evangels could only muster 25-for-75 (33.3 percent) from the field and 8-for-29 (27.6 percent) from the three-point arc. MACU also struggled to get to the foul line against the Tigers as MACU was held to just 10 attempts at a 6-of-10 (60 percent) rate.
- Central Christian also struggled against MACU's defense as CCCK shot 25-for-66 (37.9 percent), but were especially cold from behind the arc at 5-of-30 (16.7 percent). However, the Tigers were able to put the game away from the foul line late by finishing 12-for-18 (66.7 percent) from the charity stripe.
- Mid-America Christian won the rebounding battle by a 52-44 edge on the glass, which included a 17-10 margin on the offensive end, but the Tigers held a slim 11-10 edge in the turnover department.
- Trevonte Doolittle led the MACU offensive efforts with 16 points on 6-of-13 shooting, including 2-for-5 from three to go with six rebounds and two steals.
- Seth Hurd was the only other Evangel to crack into double-digit scoring with 14 points on 6-of-10 from the field to go with five boards.
- A pair of Evangels ripped down double-digit rebounds with DaRaun Clark leading MACU on the glass with 12 boards while Tarrence Gaines pulled down 10.
- Jaylon Barnett was MACU's leading distributor with six assists and just two turnovers for a 3-to-1 assist/turnover ratio.
- By suffering the defeat, Mid-America Christian fell to 2-2 on the season and 0-2 in SAC play while the Tigers improved to 3-4 with a 1-1 mark in conference play.
- The loss snapped a 12-game win streak for the Evangels over Central Christian. The last time MACU was defeated by the Tigers came on Dec. 11, 2004 in McPherson.
UP NEXT
- Mid-America Christian will have a quick turn-around as the Evangels will fly down to Panama City, Fla. to kick off the Battle at the Beach. MACU will take on the defending NAIA Champion, Loyola (La.) at 6 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 21.
