OKLAHOMA CITY – The MACU men's basketball team will be on its home court for the first time in 28 days as the Evangels will battle UNT-Dallas on Thursday night at 7:45 p.m. inside the Gaulke Activity Center for the first in 2023 before hitting the road once again to take on Southwestern Assemblies of God on Saturday afternoon in Waxahachie, Texas. Tip-off is slated for 3:45 p.m. inside the Sheaffer Center.
 
MACU SEASON REPORT

• Record: 5-8 (2-5 SAC)
• Last Game: Won at Texas Wesleyan – 86-83 – Jan. 2, 2023 – Fort Worth, Texas
• Stat Leaders:
  • Points: DaRaun Clark (196, 17.8 ppg), Eylan Goodwyn (149, 11.5 ppg), Seth Hurd (112, 8.6 ppg)
  • FG% (Min. 3 FGM/G): Seth Hurd (50-90, 55.6%), Eylan Goodwyn (50-94, 53.2%), DaRaun Clark (58-142, 40.8%)
  • 3FG% (Min. 1 3FGM/G): Conner Calavan (27-65, 41.5%), Jonathan Alexandre (14-47, 29.8%)
  • FT% (Min. 2 FTM/G): DaRaun Clark (70-90, 77.8%), Eylan Goodwyn (41-53, 77.4%), Quentin Woodson (26-51, 51.0%)
  • Reb: Tarrence Gaines (85, 7.1 rpg), Seth Hurd (50, 3.8 rpg), Eylan Goodwyn (45, 3.5 rpg)
  • Assists: Jaylon Barnett (38, 2.9 apg), Trevonte Doolittle (19, 1.6 apg), Seth Hurd (18, 1.4 apg)
  • Steals: Jaylon Barnett (20, 1.5 spg), DaRaun Clark (13, 1.2 spg)
  • Blocks: Tarrence Gaines (8, 0.7 bpg), Seth Hurd (5, 0.4 bpg)
• Team Notes:
  • Mid-America Christian is starting to pick up some midseason momentum as the Evangels have won back-to-back games, both coming on the road, for the first time since winning the first two games of the season. The Evangels managed to hold off a furious comeback at Texas Wesleyan as a pair of Eylan Goodwyn foul shots with seven seconds left pushed the MACU lead out to three before the Evangels' defense forced the Rams into taking a long contested three at the buzzer to seal the 86-83 victory on Jan. 2.
  • In the win, DaRaun Clark once again found himself in MACU's NAIA Era record book. After tying Charlie Shorter's made free throws record earlier in the season, Clark found himself near Shorter once again in the single-game list as his perfect 14-for-14 foul shooting finished one shy of tying Shorter's 15-for-15 mark on the free throw percentage mark. Clark and Shorter are the only MACU players in the NAIA to attempt more than 10 free throws and shoot a perfect 100 percent in a single game.
  • While Texas Wesleyan was able to stay in the contest behind some blistering hot three-point shooting, going 16-for-31 (51.6 percent) from beyond the arc, MACU stayed ahead of the curb by being aggressive in the offensive attack, drawing 25 fouls on the Rams and converting on a blistering 31-for-35 (88.6 percent) from the free throw line.
  • With the victory, MACU became the first team in the Sooner Athletic Conference this season to defeat Texas Wesleyan on its home court as the Rams only other two home defeats came in non-conference play to Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) on Nov. 5 and Concordia (Neb.) on Dec. 28.

SCOUTING REPORT
UNT-Dallas

• Record: 8-3 (6-2 SAC)
• Last Game: Won vs. Southwestern Assemblies of God (Texas) – 63-60 – Dec. 16, 2022 – Dallas
• Series vs. MACU (2022-): MACU leads 3-0
• Last Game vs. MACU: MACU won 83-72 – Feb. 22, 2022 – Gaulke Activity Center (SAC Tournament - First Round)
• Players to Watch:
  • Jules Moor – JR – F
    • 208 Points (18.9 ppg), 72-132 FG (54.5%), 12-24 3FG (50%), 52-73 FT (71.2%), 99 Reb (9.0 rpg), 15 Assists (1.4 apg), 14 Steals (1.3 spg)
  • Vernon Johnson – SO – F
    • 140 Points (12.7 ppg), 54-116 FG (46.6%), 3-21 3FG (14.3%), 29-34 FT (85.3%), 59 Reb (5.4 rpg), 27 Assists (2.5 apg), 20 Steals (1.8 spg)
  • Curtis Coleman – SR – G
    • 123 Points (11.2 ppg), 45-91 FG (49.5%), 10-24 3FG (41.7%), 23-30 FT (76.7%), 26 Reb (2.4 rpg), 35 Assists (3.2 apg)
• Team Notes:
  • After finishing its inaugural season in the Sooner Athletic Conference with a 12-18 overall record and an 8-14 mark in SAC play, UNT-Dallas has been one of the surprise teams in the league in 2022-23, boasting an 8-3 mark midway through the season, including a 6-2 record against SAC competition.
  • Since suffering an 82-72 defeat at Southwestern Assemblies of God on Nov. 22, the Trailblazers have won five straight games, which includes a revenge win at home against the Lions by a score of 63-60 on Dec. 16.
  • One of the big reasons for UNT-Dallas' emergence on the SAC scene has been the play of NCAA Division I Stephen F. Austin transfer Jules Moor. The junior forward is currently the only player in the league to rank in the top five in both scoring (18.9 ppg, 4^th) and rebounding (9.0 rpg, 2^nd).
  • Despite UNT-Dallas ranking just seventh in the SAC in scoring offense at 80.7 ppg, the Trailblazers have played stout defense, boasting the league's fourth-best scoring defense at 72.3 ppg while also forcing the fourth-most turnovers in the conference 16.8 per game.
  • Mid-America Christian and UNT-Dallas matched up against each other three times during the Trailblazers inaugural year in the SAC last season. All three matchups produced similar outcomes as MACU topped UNTD 85-74 inside the Gaulke Activity Center on Jan. 3 before coming away with an 85-71 victory in Dallas on Feb. 14. The two teams collided one more time in the SAC Quarterfinal on Feb. 22 as the Evangels claimed an 83-72 win inside the Gaulke Activity Center.

Southwestern Assemblies of God (Texas)

• Record: 9-5 (4-4 SAC)
• Last Game: Lost at UNT-Dallas – 63-60 – Dec. 16, 2022 – Dallas
• Series vs. MACU (2005-): MACU leads 15-11
• Last Game vs. MACU: SAGU won 90-83 – Feb. 25, 2022 – Waxahachie, Texas (SAC Quarterfinal)
• Players to Watch:
  • Cortland Blake – JR – F
    • 220 Points (15.7 ppg), 81-164 FG (49.4%), 24-72 3FG (33.3%), 34-42 FT (81.0%), 86 Reb (6.1 rpg), 13 Assists (0.9 apg), 15 Steals (1.1 spg)
  • Brooks Haddock – SR – G
    • 201 Points (14.4 ppg), 68-154 FG (44.2%), 39-98 3FG (39.8%), 26-29 FT (89.7%), 28 Reb (2.0 rpg), 22 Assists (1.6 apg), 12 Steals (0.9 spg)
  • Tyler Kinghorn – SR – F
    • 167 Points (11.1 ppg), 67-119 FG (56.3%), 8-24 3FG (33.3%), 25-43 FT (58.1%), 92 Reb (6.1 rpg), 23 Assists (1.5 apg), 12 Steals (0.8 spg), 13 Blocks (0.9 bpg)
• Team Notes:
  • Despite losing its top five scorers from a season ago, Southwestern Assemblies of God has put together a solid resume thus far in the 2022-23 campaign, boasting a 9-5 overall record, but the 2022 SAC Tournament Champions are boasting just 4-4 in SAC play.
  • The Lions are led offensively by a pair of newcomers in junior forward Courtland Blake and senior guard Brooks Haddock. Blake, a McCook CC transfer is scoring a team-best 15.7 ppg on a 49.4 percent shooting clip while converting 81 percent from the charity stripe. Haddock, an NCAA Division II transfer from Emporia State (Kan.) and former Oklahoma Wesleyan player is tallying 14.4 ppg while shooting a blistering 39-of-98 (39.8 percent) from three and converting 89.7 percent of his foul shots.
  • Even though SAGU is scoring at just the sixth-highest rate in the SAC at 83.3 ppg, the Lions have been a stout defensive team, posting the third-lowest points allowed average (70.9 ppg) while being the league's best field goal percentage defense (38.5 percent) and second-best three-point defense (29.4 percent).
  • Following the 2019-20 season, it's been a back-and-forth series between the two programs. Last season, the two teams split the season series as SAGU came away with an 80-58 win inside the Gaulke Activity Center on Jan. 1, 2022 before the Evangels got some revenge in Waxahachie, Texas on Feb. 7 by pulling out a dominant 92-74 win in their own right. The two teams met up once again in the SAC Quarterfinal on Feb. 22, but the Lions were able to grind out a tough 90-83 win.