FORT WORTH, Texas – For just the second time this season, the MACU men's basketball team won back-to-back games as the Evangels opened 2023 with an 86-83 victory at Texas Wesleyan inside the Sid Richardson Center on Monday night.
TOP PERFORMERS
- DaRaun Clark – 30 Points, 7-15 FG, 2-5 3FG, 14-14 FT, 6 Reb
- Eylan Goodwyn – 16 Points, 4-8 FG, 8-9 FT, 4 Reb, 3 Assists
- Seth Hurd – 10 Points, 4-6 FG, 2-4 FT, 4 Reb, 2 Assists, 2 Steals
GAME SUMMARY
- First Half
- Both teams played to a 7-7 tie through the first three-and-a-half minutes, but DaRaun Clark's fadeaway long-range two-pointer from the right wing ignited an 8-0 Mid-America Christian (5-8, 2-5 SAC) run. Another Clark jumper and a Seth Hurd layup proceeded a pair of Clark free throws, making it a 15-7 game with 14:52 left.
- Texas Wesleyan (6-7, 3-4 SAC) chipped away at the MACU lead over the next six minutes cut it to a three-point lead on two separate occasions, the first on a Peyton Sallee three to make it 23-20 with 10:41 left and a Marko Jovanivic triple from the top of the key to set the score to 28-25 at the 8:22 mark.
- An immediate Conner Calavan answer from downtown on the ensuing possession ignited a dominant 14-3 Evangels run as Calavan scored nine points, all of three-point range as his last fastbreak triple with 4:16 remaining pushed the MACU advantage out to 42-28.
- In the final two-and-a-half minutes, Texas Wesleyan put together a strong run to get back into the contest. Back-to-back three-pointers from Gavin Harris and Matt Nero jumpstarted an 11-1 Rams run to close out the half as Nero buried a contested fall-away three-pointer just before the first half buzzer to close it to a 45-42 MACU edge going into the break.
- Second Half
- Mid-America Christian recaptured the momentum immediately out of the locker room as a Hurd offensive rebound and putback on MACU's first possession ignited a 14-2 Evangels streak. Hurd knocked down a midrange jumper to bring it back to a double-digit lead before Eylan Goodwyn converted a tough bucket in the paint. To close out the run, Clark intercepted a pass near midcourt and took it in for the fastbreak layup to tie the Evangels' largest lead of the contest at 58-44 with just under 16 minutes to go.
- MACU maintained its double-digit lead over the next five minutes before a Lamine Komara bucket followed by a Neto steal and score made it a 63-55 game with 11:28 left.
- A Tarrence Gaines tip-in briefly pushed the Evangels' edge back out to 10 before Peyton Sallee knocked down a three on the following possession to ignite an 11-1 Rams ram capped off on Akili Vining's three from the top of the key to tie the game at 66-all with 8:06 left.
- Goodwyn took over for the next three minutes for MACU as he powered in a runner off a sensational Hurd pass and drew the foul. Goodwyn went 3-for-3 from the free throw line over the next two minutes as the Evangels pushed their lead back out to two possessions at 71-66 with just under seven to go.
- Every time Texas Wesleyan was able to cut into the MACU edge, the Evangels had an answer as Jonathan Alexandre hit a tough pull-up jumper from the left wing while Jaylon Barnett, Clark and Hurd combined to go 7-for-8 from the charity stripe to make it an 80-76 game with 1:56 remaining.
- After a Harris foul shot brought it back to a one-possession game, Calavan came up with one of the biggest plays of the game when he picked Sallee's pocket before sending an outlet to Barnett for the fastbreak layup with 51 seconds left. On the ensuing possession, Sallee missed a three and after Clark was fouled after gathering the rebound, he buried a pair from the line to make it an 84-77 MACU lead with 37 seconds left.
- Texas Wesleyan put together one last run in the final 30 seconds. After Vining quickly scored a layup on the other end, the Rams forced back-to-back MACU turnovers as a pair of Nero free throws and a Vining layup closed it to a one-point game at 84-83 with seven seconds left.
- On the in-bounds play, the Evangels were able to get into Goodwyn and after being fouled, knocked down a pair of clutch free throws to swell the MACU lead out to 86-83 with six seconds to go.
- Texas Wesleyan had one last chance to tie, but the MACU defense was able to force Vining into taking a long tough contested three at the buzzer that bricked off the iron, wrapping up the 86-83 final.
GAME NOTES
- Both teams put together an outstanding offensive performance as Mid-America Christian finished 24-for-49 (49 percent) from the field and 7-of-16 (43.8 percent) from three while Texas Wesleyan shot a blistering 31-of-61 (50.8 percent), which included 16-for-31 (51.6 percent) from the three-point arc.
- While the Rams three-point shooting kept them in the contest, the Evangels were able to deal most of its damage from the free throw line. TWU struggled against MACU's aggressive offensive attack as the Evangels went 31-for-35 (88.6 percent) from the charity stripe while the Rams converted just 5-of-9 (55.6 percent) attempts.
- The two teams were relatively even in the rebounding and turnover battles as MACU held a slight 28-26 edge on the glass while committing just one fewer turnover than the Rams at 14-to-15.
- For the second time this season, DaRaun Clark reached the 30-point plateau as he scored his 30 points on 7-of-15 shooting, 2-for-5 from three and converted all 14 of his free throw attempts. Clark also finished with a team-leading six rebounds alongside Jaylon Barnett.
- By going 14-of-14 from the free throw line, Clark became just the second Evangel in the NAIA Era (2007-present) to shoot 100 percent from the charity stripe while attempting more than 10 free throws. The only other player to accomplish that feat was MACU's Player of the Decade Charlie Shorter, who went 15-for-15 against Science & Arts on Jan. 9, 2012.
- Clark's 14 made foul shots also tied him with Semar Farris, Terrance Jones and Isaiah Hammons for the second-most free throws made in a single game in the NAIA Era.
- Eylan Goodwyn also put together another strong offensive performance, scoring 16 points on 4-of-8 shooting and went 8-for-9 from the stripe to go with four boards and a team-high three assists.
- Seth Hurd was the only other Evangel to crack into double-digit scoring with 10 points on 4-for-6 shooting four boards, two assists and two steals.
- Conner Calavan provided a spark off the MACU bench with nine points on 3-of-5 shooting from beyond the arc.
- With the win, Mid-America Christian has now won three straight games inside the Sid Richardson Center and the Evangels have taken five out of the last six games in the series.
- MACU has now won back-to-back games for the first time since starting off the season 2-0 against Kansas Christian and Ozark Christian.
UP NEXT
- Mid-America Christian will return to the Gaulke Activity Center for its first home game of 2023 on Thursday, Jan. 5 as the Evangels will host UNT-Dallas for a 7:45 p.m. tip.
