OKLAHOMA CITY – The MACU men's basketball team put together a 22-13 run over the last 7:32 in the second half to pull away with an 82-72 victory over Central Christian on Saturday inside the Gaulke Activity Center to snap a three-game losing streak.
TOP PERFORMERS
- Seth Hurd– 24 Points, 11-16 FG, 11 Reb, 4 Assists
- Eylan Goodwyn – 22 Points, 9-17 FG, 4-5 FT, 7 Reb, 2 Assists
- Trevonte Doolittle – 14 Points, 5-9 FG, 4-4 FT, 2 Assists, 2 Reb
GAME SUMMARY
- First Half
- The two squads opened up play trading buckets throughout the first four minutes of play until layups on back-to-back possessions by Eylan Goodwyn and Seth extended the Mid-America Christian (8-11, 5-8 SAC) lead to 13-8 with 15:50 to play.
- MACU suffered a 3:37 scoring drought as Central Christian (6-13, 4-9) scored five straight to tie the game 13-13 on a Malachi Farr three-pointer with 13:52 left in the half. However, Goodwyn broke the dry spell by banking in a layup followed up by a Conner Calavan draining a three from the top of the key to extend the MACU edge back out to five with 12 minutes left.
- The Tigers stormed in-front on a seven-unanswered run as Jamir Spivey hauled in the offensive rebound and got the putback layup to put CCCK ahead 20-18 with 10:15 remaining.
- Over the course of the next six minutes, Mid-America Christian scored 15 of the next 19 as Goodwyn broke away with a transition finish off a Tarrence Gaines steal to give the Evangels its largest lead of the half at 35-24 with just under four minutes to go.
- Central Christian charged back over the final three minutes as the Tigers ended the half with a string of nine-straight. Malachi Farr scored five of CCCK's points in the run before Adrian Osuagwu finished in the paint with 22 seconds left to make it a 37-36 game.
- It looked as though the Evangels would go into the half with a four-point advantage after Goodwyn buried a three from the right corner at the buzzer, but the basket was called off after the officials ruled that the ball was still in Goodwyn's hand when time expired.
- Second Half
- Out of the halftime break, the two teams traded the first six field goals as the two teams remained in a deadlock, but Central Christian strung together a six-unanswered run off a Ryan Moore three-point play and a Demario Moore triple from the left-wing in transition as the Tigers took a 48-44 lead with 16:30 remaining.
- MACU came right back with a 6-0 run of its own after back-to-back layups by Trevonte Doolittle briefly put the Evangels back in-front 50-48 with 14:22 left.
- The next four minutes consisted of three ties and two lead changes, but Seth Hurd helped MACU get some breathing room with a strong finish in the paint before dishing it to Quentin Woodson for a layup to make it a 60-56 MACU edge with 8:18 to go.
- Ryan Moore helped close the gap to one after drawing a foul from range just before the shot clock expired and buried all three foul shots to make it a 60-59 contest at the 7:48 mark.
- Another strong Woodson finish on the ensuing possession ignited the MACU offense as the Evangels rattled off a 16-6 run over the next four minutes as Goodwyn and Hurd combined to score 10 of the points in the run. Goodwyn capped the run with a layup just under the three-and-a-half-minute mark to make it a 76-65 MACU advantage.
- After Reece Warren laid it in to knock it back to a single-digit deficit for CCCK, the Evangels swung back with four straight as a pair of Hurd foul shots before Doolittle beat the shot clock with a midrange jumper from the left wing to give MACU its largest lead of the game at 80-67 with 1:42 remaining.
- Hurd capped off a career night by securing an offensive board and getting the putback layup to go with 10 seconds left before Ryan Moore finished the contest with a layup for Central Christian at the four second mark to wrap-up the 82-72 final.
GAME NOTES
- Despite some cold shooting from the three-point arc as Mid-America Christian made just 2-for-10 (20 percent) from range, the Evangels boasted a season-best shooting mark by knocking down 34-for-61 (55.7 percent) from the field while efficiently converting 12-for-15 (80 percent) from the free throw line. Even though Central Christian scored just 72 points, the Tigers were also relatively efficient with their shooting, burying 26-of-57 (45.6 percent) from the field, including 10-for-26 (38.5 percent) from three and also knocked down a highly efficient 10-for-12 (83.3 percent) from the line.
- While Central Christian tried to stay in it from range, MACU controlled the game from the paint as the Evangels outscored the Tigers 60-22 from inside the lane.
- Four MACU players finished in double-figure scoring, led by Seth Hurd who reached a career-high 24 points on 11-of-16 shooting to go along with 11 rebounds, giving Hurd his first career double-double. Hurd also led the distribution efforts by tallying four of MACU's 10 assists.
- Eylan Goodwyn also scored a career-high 22 points, shooting 9-of-17 from the floor and 4-of-5 from the line while yanking down seven rebounds.
- After scoring a career-high 16 points at Central Christian earlier this season, Travonte Doolittle continued to play well against the Tigers as he shot an efficient 5-for-9 from the field and 4-for-4 from the line for 14 points while playing a grueling season-high 39 minutes of action for the short-handed Evangels.
- Tarrence Gaines rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting and 2-for-2 from the stripe to go with seven rebounds and a pair of blocked shots.
- Mid-America Christian bounces back at home with the win, splitting the season series with Central Christian after falling on the road to the Tigers 67-64 on Nov. 19. Overall, MACU improved to 16-2 against Central Christian since 2004.
UP NEXT
- Mid-America Christian will continue its three-game home stand next week as the Evangels will host Wayland Baptist on Thursday, Jan. 26 for a 7:45 p.m. tip-off inside the Gaulke Activity Center.
