WAXAHACHIE, Texas – The 14^th-seeded Mid-America Christian men's basketball team gave a late strong challenge to third-seeded, No. 14-ranked Montana Tech in the NAIA Opening Round played in the Sheaffer Center on Friday night, but the Orediggers made a late push to come away with the 71-67 win to end the Evangels' season.
 
TOP PERFORMERS

• Isaiah Hammons – 16 Points, 4-11 FG, 8-12 FT, 5 Reb, 2 Steals, 2 Assists
• Jasiah Lewis – 15 Points, 7-14 FG, 1-2 3FG, 6 Reb, 3 Steals
• Kendall Scott – 11 Points, 4-8 FG, 3-4 FT, 11 Reb, 2 Assists

GAME SUMMARY

• First Half
  • Mid-America Christian got off to a fast start, scoring seven of the first nine as a steal and layup by Jasiah Lewis set the tone before Tony Dorsey hit a three and Caleb Riggs knocked down a pull-up jumper with 18:45 remaining.
  • A pair of three-pointers by Montana Tech's Drew Huse and Keeley Bake briefly put the Orediggers in-front, but a nice dish by Isaiah Hammons led to a Kendall Scott dunk to push MACU back ahead at 9-8 with 14:26 left.
  • Sindou Diallo's three-ball gave MTU its largest lead of the half, but the Evangels countered with a 10-2 run as a Carlos Slaughter lay-in stretch the MACU advantage to 19-13 with 9:38 on-the clock.
  • Christian Jones' layup briefly stopped the run, but a Quentin Woodson offensive rebound and put-back followed by a pair of Hammons foul shots gave MACU its largest lead of the half at 23-15 with 7:37 to go.
  • Montana Tech battled back by scoring six of the next seven, closing it to a one-possession game on a strong Diallo take to set the score to 24-21 with just over five minutes left.
  • Mid-America Christian surged back by tallying six of the next eight as a well-executed Riggs floater brought the edge out to 30-23 with just over a minute remaining.
  • The Orediggers closed out the half with seven-unanswered, tying it up at 30-all on a Caleb Bellach four-point play with 4.5 seconds left.
• Second Half
  • Scott scored four of the first six points for MACU to start the second half as the Evangels held a 36-35 lead with just under 18 minutes to play before the Orediggers went on a six-unanswered to grab a 41-36 advantage with 16:05 to go.
  • After a Hammons layup brought it to within three, Bellach converted an old-fashioned three-point play before Huse's layup swelled the MTU edge to 46-38 at the 13:42 mark.
  • The Evangels knocked it down to a six-point deficit twice over the next two minutes, but a Michael Ure three-ball with 10:53 remaining gave the Orediggers their largest lead of the game at 51-42.
  • MACU chipped away at the Montana Tech cushion as five-straight on a Hammons three-point play and a tough Carlos Slaughter jumper quickly closed it to a 51-47 game with just under 10 minutes left.
  • Mid-America Christian struggled to trim the deficit to below three over the next three minutes as Bellach's layup pushed the MTU edge out to 58-53 with 5:33 to go before taking a timeout.
  • With just under five minutes left, the Evangels made their charge as Scott finished on a great pass from Dorsey before a Hammons steal led to a fastbreak pull-up three-pointer at the top of the key for Lewis to draw the game even at 58-all with 4:29 on the clock.
  • MACU briefly took the lead at the 3:57 mark after Hammons and Derrius Collins traded foul shots before the Evangels recaptured the advantage on a Riggs three-pointer to bring the score to 62-59 with 3:40 left.
  • Montana Tech scored six unanswered over the next two minutes to take back a 65-62 advantage but Lewis made a fantastic stutter step in the right wing to get the open layup, closing it to within one at 65-64 with 55 seconds to go.
  • The Orediggers regained a three-point lead on a sensational fadeaway midrange jumper by Diallo before coming up with a huge defensive stop as Slaughter's right-corner three was blocked by Taylor England with 14 seconds left.
  • Montana Tech was able to go 4-for-4 from the free throw line over the final 12 seconds to hold on for the 71-67 win.

GAME NOTES

• Mid-America Christian struggled against a very tough Orediggers defense, shooting just 25-for-70 (35.7 percent) and couldn't find a rhythm from three as the Evangels knocked down just 4-for-24 (16.7 percent) from range. MACU was also only able to convert on 13-for-20 (65 percent) from the free throw line.
• Montana Tech finished the contest by shooting 23-of-54 (42.6 percent), but knocked down a very efficient 10-for-24 (41.7 percent) from three-point range while tallying 16-for-22 (68.2 percent) from the charity stripe.
• Despite the Evangels' offensive struggled, Mid-America Christian was able to gain some ground on the Orediggers by winning the turnover battle by a 19-to-12 margin while also outrebounding MTU 44-41.
• Despite a tough shooting night, Isaiah Hammons led the MACU offensive efforts with 16 points on 4-of-11 shooting and also finished 8-for-12 from the free throw line. Hammons also pulled down five boards and tallied a pair of assists and a pair of steals in his final game with the Evangels.
• By making eight free throws in the contest, Hammons surpassed MACU all-time great Dale Neace (166) for the most foul shots made in a single season in the history of the Evangels basketball program with 168.
• Jasiah Lewis was one of the few MACU players to get into a rhythm offensively, scoring 15 points on 7-for-14 shooting and also pulled down six rebounds to go with three steals.
• In his last game in a MACU uniform, Kendall Scott turned in a double-double with 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting and tallied 3-for-4 from the free throw line to go with a team-high 11 rebounds.
• Despite a tough night offensively for Tony Dorsey, the senior guard wrapped up his MACU career with a strong floor game, tallying seven points and seven boards to go with three assists and two steals.
• Mid-America Christian wraps up its season with a 20-13 overall record while Montana Tech improves to 27-6 and will advance to the Round of 32 to take on the winner of Southwestern Assemblies of God and Central Methodist on Saturday.