OKLAHOMA CITY – The MACU men's basketball team got back in the win column on Thursday night by holding John Brown to just 44 points, the fewest the team has allowed since joining the NAIA in 2007 as the Evangels cruised to a 56-44 victory inside the Gaulke Activity Center
TOP PERFORMERS
- DaRaun Clark – 11 Points, 4-9 FG, 2-2 FT, 3 Reb
- Tarrence Gaines – 9 Points, 4-10 FG, 10 Reb, 2 Assists
- Eylan Goodwyn - 8 Points, 3-7 FG, 2-2 FT, 4 Reb
- Jaylon Barnett - 5 Points, 2-6 FG, 3 Steals, 3 Assists
GAME SUMMARY
- First Half
- John Brown (4-12, 3-7 SAC) opened the scoring Tyren Collins' layup 14 seconds in put the Golden Eagles on-top, but the MACU defense held JBU to just one point over the next two minutes as a DaRaun Clark jumper gave the Evangels a 4-3 edge 17:26 to go.
- On the ensuing possession, Collins put the Golden Eagles back in-front with another bucket, igniting 9-0 run while holding Mid-America Christian (7-9, 4-6 SAC) scoreless for 4:14 as JBU swelled its lead to 12-4 with 14:19 remaining on a Josh Stewart hoop-and-harm.
- Quentin Woodson broke the MACU scoring drought with just under 14 minutes left, sinking his first three-pointer of the season from the top of the key to spark a 15-2 run over the next eight minutes. Jonathan Alexandre capped it off with a three from the corner to push the MACU lead out to 19-14 lead with 8:11 left.
- With 5:33 remaining, Stewart knocked down a three to snap a three-and-a-half minute scoring drought before Tarrance Gaines answered right back on the ensuing possession with a three of his own. Two possessions later, Eylan Goodwyn extended the MACU advantage to 24-17 by hitting a fading jumper from the left baseline with 3:19 to go.
- Back-to-back buckets by Malachi Reeves closed the Golden Eagles gap to three at 24-21 at the 1:33 mark, but the Evangels scored four of the last six as a pair of Goodwyn buckets sent MACU into the half with a 28-23 advantage.
- Second Half
- Coming out of the locker room, Jaylon Barnett put MACU on the board first by picking the pocket of James Beckom and taking it coast-to-coast for fastbreak layup before Collins got the put-back bucket with 18:29 remaining to close it back to 30-25.
- After Tarrence Gaines and Noah Taylor traded buckets to keep it to a five-point game, Clark sparked a five-point MACU surge by burying a three from the left wing before Woodson made a big play on the defensive end blocking Beckom's shot to lead Gaines into a transition layup, giving MACU its first double-digit advantage at 37-27 with 15:17 to play.
- JBU trimmed it down to a six-point game on a pair of occasions over the next four minutes, the last coming on a Taylor three with 11:11 remaining, but the Evangels swung back with five straight once again as a Conner Calavan pull-up jumper in the lane and a fastbreak Clark jumper preceded Trevonte Doolittle's foul shot that made it a 45-34 game with 9:47 left.
- JBU managed to cut it back down to single-digits on a pair of occasions, the last coming on a Benjamin Agwu Eme layup to make it 47-38 at the 7:35 mark. However, neither team managed to score over the next few minutes as a pair of Goodwyn free throws with 4:54 to go finally put MACU back up by double-figures.
- Two possessions later, two more Reeves free throws knocked it back down to a nine-point game, but following a timeout, Barnett got the hoop and the harm and finished off the three-point play to give the Evangels their largest lead of the contest at 52-40 with just over four minutes remaining.
- John Brown was unable to trim the MACU advantage below double-digits the rest of the way as the Evangels rode one of its best defensive efforts in program history to a 56-44 victory.
GAME NOTES
- With offense coming at a premium, Mid-America Christian had the upper hand in the shooting department as the Evangels went 22-for-57 (38.6 percent) from the field and 6-of-22 (27.3 percent) from three while the Golden Eagles shot 16-of-53 (30.2 percent) and were held to a season-worst 2-for-24 (8.3 percent) from three-point range.
- Neither team was able to force many opportunities from the free throw line as John Brown finished 10-for-17 (58.8 percent) while the Evangels shot 6-of-9 (66.7%) from the charity stripe after being held to without a free throw in the opening half.
- The two teams were relatively even in the rebounding and turnover battles as JBU held a 41-39 edge on the glass while MACU committed just one less turnover at 13-to-14.
- The 44 points given up by the Evangels defense set a new mark for the fewest points allowed in the MACU NAIA Era (2007-present) record book. The previous mark came in a 103-45 victory over Ecclesia (Ark.) inside the Gaulke Activity Center on Nov. 12, 2020.
- DaRaun Clark was the only MACU player to finish in double-figure scoring, finishing with 11 points on 4-of-9 shooting and went 2-for-2 from the foul line to go with three rebounds.
- Tarrence Gaines narrowly missed his third double-double of the season, scoring nine points on 4-of-10 from the field to go with a team-high 10 rebounds and a pair of assists.
- Jaylon Barnett put the clamps down on the John Brown offense getting a season-high three steals and dished out a team-best three assists to go with five points.
- With the win, MACU snapped a three-game losing streak to the Golden Eagles, notching its first win since picking up a 73-59 victory inside the Gaulke Activity Center on Jan. 4, 2020.
- Both teams are currently heading in different trajectories as Mid-America Christian has now won four of its last five games while John Brown has now lost six of its last seven.
UP NEXT
- Mid-America Christian will close out the first half of Sooner Athletic Conference play on Saturday as the Evangels will head to El Reno, Okla. to take on Oklahoma City at 3:45 p.m. Due to floor damage from a water main break in Abe Lemons Arena during Christmas break, the game has been moved to Redlands Community College.
