OKLAHOMA CITY – The MACU men's basketball team will wrap-up the 2022 portion of its Sooner Athletic Conference schedule on Tuesday night as the Evangels will head uptown to Bethany, Okla. to take on Southwestern Christian for a 7:45 p.m. tip-off inside Pickens-Springer Gymnasium.
 
MACU SEASON REPORT

• Record: 3-7 (1-4 SAC)
• Last Game: Lost vs. Science & Arts (Okla.) – 96-84 – Dec. 8, 2022 – Gaulke Activity Center
• Stat Leaders:
  • Points: DaRaun Clark (140, 17.5), Eylan Goodwyn (105, 10.5), Seth Hurd (85, 8.5)
  • FG% (Min. 3 FGM/G): Seth Hurd (38-65, 55.1), Eylan Goodwyn (36-66, 54.5), DaRaun Clark (39-99, 39.4)
  • 3FG% (Min. 1 3FGM/G): Conner Calavan (21-51, 41.2), DaRaun Clark (8-36, 22.2)
  • FT% (Min. 2 FTM/G): Eylan Goodwyn (26-30, 86.7), DaRaun Clark (54-73, 74.0)
  • Reb: Tarrence Gaines (75, 7.5), DaRaun Clark (34, 4.3), Quentin Woodson (34, 3.4)
  • Assists: Jaylon Barnett (31, 3.1), Trevonte Doolittle (16, 1.6), Seth Hurd (14, 1.4)
  • Steals: Jaylon Barnett (14, 1.4), Tarrence Gaines (7, 0.7), DaRaun Clark (7, 0.7)
  • Blocks: Tarrence Gaines (8, 0.8), Seth Hurd (4, 0.4), Two Tied (3)
• Team Notes:
  • Mid-America Christian battled Science & Arts closely in its matchup with the Drovers on Thursday night, even battling back to tie it at 44 on Tarrence Gaines' three-ball at the 17:52 mark in the second half, but the Evangels struggled to slow down USAO the rest of the way as the Drovers pulled away with the 96-84 win.
  • Despite MACU's defensive struggles in the loss, the Evangels put together a balanced offensive attack with five players scoring nine or more points, led by DaRaun Clark with 20 points on 7-of-14 shooting while Eylan Goodwyn efficiently scored 19 points on 8-for-12 from the field and 3-of-4 from the charity stripe.
  • In the loss, Tarrence Gaines boasted his second straight double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds while Seth Hurd led the distribution efforts with nine points, seven rebounds and six assists.
  • The defeat to the Drovers marked the Evangels' sixth straight, but the series has been relatively close with five of the six losses coming by 12 points or less.

SCOUTING REPORT
Southwestern Christian (Okla.)

• Record: 4-5 (2-4 SAC)
• Last Game: Lost at Science & Arts (Okla.) – 102-84 – Dec. 10, 2022 – Chickasha, Okla.
• Series vs. MACU (2004-): MACU leads 26-11
• Last Game vs. MACU: MACU won 84-75 – Jan. 24, 2022 – Gaulke Activity Center
• Players to Watch:
  • Luiz Machado Jr. – SR – F
    • 192 Points (21.3 ppg), 64-132 FG (48.5%), 15-40 3FG (37.5%), 49-71 FT (69.0%), 63 Reb (7.0 rpg), 25 Assists (2.8 apg), 11 Steals (1.2 spg)
  • Shawn Hopkins – JR – G
    • 153 Points (17.0 ppg), 54-89 FG (60.7%), 40-68 FT (58.8%), 55 Reb (6.1 rpg), 10 Assists (1.1 apg), 10 Steals (1.1 spg), 7 Blocks (0.8 bpg)
  • Robert Chapman – JR – G
    • 104 Points (11.6 ppg), 32-73 FG (43.8%), 13-36 3FG (36.1%), 27-35 FT (77.1%), 31 Reb (3.4 rpg), 13 Assists (1.4 apg), 11 Steals (1.2 spg)
• Team Notes:
  • After keeping it close at Science & Arts, trailing just 43-37 going into the halftime break, Southwestern Christian struggled to contain the Drovers in the second half as USAO went on a 25-11 run to help put away the Eagles by a score of 102-84 inside the USAO Fieldhouse on Saturday.
  • Southwestern Christian has struggled since picking up an 85-80 win over Central Christian in its SAC opener on Nov. 17. After getting off to a 4-1 start to the season, the Eagles have lost five of their last six games.
  • Led by All-SAC Third Team honoree from a season ago in Luiz Machado Jr., the 6-6 senior forward from Queens, N.Y. is the SAC's second-most prolific scorer at 21.7 points per game while shooting 48.5 percent from the field.
  • The Evangels have played well inside Pickens-Springer Gymnasium as MACU has won three of the last five games played in the venue while MACU's two defeats have come by a single possession. In last season's meeting at SCU, the Evangels lost a heartbreaker when Machado Jr. powered in the game-winning layup with seven seconds left before Tony Dorsey left the potential game-winning pull-up jumper just off the left side of the rim to wrap-up a heartbreaking 68-67 final.