OKLAHOMA CITY –
Eylan Goodwyn laid in the go-ahead bucket with 2.2 seconds left as the MACU men's basketball team overcame an 11-point halftime deficit to pull out an 82-79 victory inside the Gaulke Activity Center on Saturday afternoon.
TOP PERFORMERS
- DaRaun Clark– 20 Points, 8-14 FG, 3 Reb, 2 Assists, 2 Steals
- Seth Hurd – 18 Points, 6-8 FG, 6-9 FT, 10 Reb, 2 Assists
- Trevonte Doolittle – 14 Points, 5-8 FG, 2-4 3FG, 2 Assists
GAME SUMMARY
- First Half
- The two squads got off to slow starts offensively to begin the contest until Tarrence Gaines scored the first four points of the night inside the paint for Mid-America Christian (9-13, 6-10 SAC) closing it a 5-4 game with 16:36 to play.
- Oklahoma Panhandle State (2-19, 1-14 SAC) rattled off a 10-2 run as the NAIA's leading scorer Rayquan Elliott cashed in a pair of three-pointers to make it a 15-6 game with 12:47 to go.
- Trailing by eight, DaRaun Clark helped spark a turning of the tide by knocking down his seventh and eighth points from the line before a Conner Calavan three from the left wing and two Tichic Fikipo free throws at the 9:52 mark closed the gap to 18-17.
- Following an Enock Rosil layup, the Evangels drew it even after Jaylon Barnett banked a spinning fadeaway jumper off the glass before Fikipo tied it up at the line with 8:25 remaining.
- After Javian Lawson knocked down a three with just over eight to go, OPSU widened the gap by stringing together an 20-9 run over the next seven minutes. Elliott capped off with a minute to go to give the Aggies their largest lead of the game.
- Clark drained a three to bring the lead back down to single-digits with 34 seconds to go, however Elliott got the hoop and the harm with six seconds remaining to send OPSU into the half with a 43-32 advantage.
- Second Half
- MACU quickly closed the gap to seven behind back-to-back buckets from Seth Hurd but the Evangels weren't able to trim it any closer over the next six minutes as Fedja Cukle pushed the OPSU lead back out to 10 at 55-45 with 13:35 left to play.
- Trevonte Doolittle buried back-to-back threes to close it to a two-possession game at 55-51 with just under 13 minutes left, but another three-minute scoring drought helped OPSU build back an 11-point lead at 64-53 following Joe Greaves foul shot with 8:51 to go.
- With 7:10 remaining, Calavan knocked down a big three to help shift momentum as the Evangels went on a 16-6 run before Doolttile tied things up at 72 on a pair of free throws with 3:21 left to play.
- After getting a big defensive stop on the following possession, Hurd gave MACU its first lead of the game by powering in a left-handed layup and drawing a foul with 1:45 to go, setting the score to 75-72.
- Leading by three after a crucial left-handed layup by Doolittle, Greaves drove down the lane, scooped in a left-handed layup and drew a foul with 20 seconds left to play to tie the game from the charity stripe at 79-79.
- Out of the timeout, MACU faced a stingy Aggies defense that tried to execute a double team on Doolittle at the top of the key, but he was able to get the ball over the outstretched arms of the defenders to an open Goodwyn on the left wing as he drove down the lane to score the go-ahead layup with 2.2 seconds remaining.
- The Aggies had one last gasp effort to heave the ball down the court following a timeout, but Hurd intercepted the pass and was immediately fouled, knocking down a foul shot before intentionally missing the second to run out the clock on an 82-79 comeback victory.
GAME NOTES
- Mid-America Christian was able to outshoot the Aggies from the field as the Evangels went 29-for-59 (49.2 percent), but shot just 6-of-19 (31.6 percent) from deep and finished 18-of-26 (69.2 percent) from the foul line.
- Oklahoma Panhandle State also shot the ball well offensively, going 24-of-52 (46.2 percent) from the field and hit a blistering 7-for-17 (41.2 percent) from three-point range. OPSU's free throw shooting abilities kept the Aggies in the lead for most of the contest by knocking down a highly-efficient 24-of-29 (82.8 percent) attempts.
- Much like in their win against Central Christian a week prior, the Evangels once again were able to control the paint as they outscored OPSU 42-28 inside the lane. The Evangels also saw success with second-chance points outscoring the Aggies 21-12.
- DaRaun Clark came off the bench to lead the Evangels with 20 points on 8-of-14 shooting and went 3-for-5 from the line while hauling in three rebounds to go with a pair of assists and two steals.
- Seth Hurd achieved his second double-double in the last three games after scoring 18 points on 6-of-8 shooting and converted a season-high 6-for-9 from the stripe to go with a game-high 10 boards.
- Trevonte Doolittle rounded out MACU's double-digit scorers with 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting, including going 2-for-3 from three-point range to go along with a pair of rebounds and a pair of dimes.
- With the win, Mid-America Christian swept the season series against Oklahoma Panhandle State and have won five of the last six meetings.
UP NEXT
- Mid-America Christian will make the short trip down to ??Chickasha, Okla. on Thursday, Feb. 2 to take on the Science & Arts. Tip-off is slated for 7:45 p.m. inside the Drover Fieldhouse.
