OKLAHOMA CITY – The MACU men's basketball team won its third consecutive game while holding UNT-Dallas to its lowest point total of the season as the Evangels ran away with a 72-55 victory inside the Gaulke Activity Center on Thursday night.
TOP PERFORMERS
- Tarrence Gaines – 12 Points, 5-8 FG, 2-3 3FG, 10 Reb, 2 Blocks
- Eylan Goodwyn – 12 Points, 3-5 FG, 6-8 FT, 5 Reb
- Trevonte Doolittle - 11 Points, 4-8 FG, 2 Reb
- Jaylon Barnett – 10 Points, 4-10 FG, 6 Assists, 5 Reb
GAME SUMMARY
- First Half
- The two teams battled to a 7-7 tie through the first three-and-a-half minutes until a fastbreak layup from Quentin Woodson ignited a 7-0 run for Mid-America Christian (6-8, 3-5 SAC), capped off by a pair of free throws from Jaylon Barnett to make it a 14-7 game with just under 14 minutes left.
- Midway through the first half, the Evangels got things going from behind the arc as Tarrence Gaines and Jonathan Alexandre each contributed from deep to go along with a Woodson layup to bring the Evangels' edge to 22-10 with 11:20 to go.
- After a DeAndre Robinson tip-in and a Hysheam Weston layup closed the UNT-Dallas (8-4, 6-3 SAC) deficit back to single-digits, a three-ball from Trevonte Doolittle sent MACU on an 14-2 run with Doolittle scoring the first eight points during the streak before back-to-back buckets from Eylan Goodwyn and DaRaun Clark gave the Evangels a commanding 36-16 lead with 4:26 left.
- With 3:09 to go, Curtis Coleman scored a fastbreak layup was able to end the Trailblazer scoring drought which lasted 4:11.
- With just under three minutes to go, a pair of Goodwyn free throws allowed the Evangels to score six quick unanswered points as a Gaines jumper and Clark layup in transition gave MACU its largest lead of the half at 42-18 with two minutes remaining.
- Over the final two minutes, both defenses stood strong as the only UNT-Dallas bucket came from a Vernon Johnson tip-in at the rim on his own offensive rebound. Goodwyn was able to get back to the line with 53 seconds remaining where he would split a pair of free throws giving MACU a 43-20 lead heading into the break.
- Second Half
- Mid-America Christian got things started right away after coming out of the locker room as Barnett dished it to Gaines for two. Goodwyn got right back to the line just as he did in the first half, swishing a pair of free throws and then followed up by Clark hitting a three from downtown as the quick offensive surge gave MACU its largest lead of the evening of 26 leading by a score of 51-25 with 17:25 to play.
- Over the next five minutes, UNT-Dallas chipped away at the Evangels lead as the Trailblazers rattled off nine unanswered points with two Jules Moor free throws trimming the MACU edge to 51-34 with 13:47 remaining.
- Conner Calavan finally snapped the Evangels drought with a triple from the left wing with 12:18 left, but another eight-unanswered from the Trailblazers allowed UNTD to close it to 54-42 game at the 9:13 mark on a pair of Johnson foul shots.
- Seth Hurd snapped the MACU drought once again with a tip-in of his own missed shot, but the Evangels missed out on a golden opportunity when Barnett missed a fastbreak layup and Woodson had his save attempt on the floor stolen as Moor came down on the other end for an open fastbreak jumper to pull it back to 56-44 with just over eight minutes to go.
- However, Barnett brought the energy back for MACU as he assisted a Hurd layup before burying a big-time step-back three before a Doolittle three-point play and Gaines fadeaway jumper capped a 10-uanswered Evangels streak at 66-44 with 5:05 left.
- UNT-Dallas scored eight of the next 11 to bring it back to a 17-point game on a pair of Sergio McClain foul shots to set the score to 69-52 with two-and-a-half minutes left, but the MACU reserves held the Trailblazers to three points the rest of the way to cruise to a 72-55 win.
GAME NOTES
- Overall, Mid-America Christian shot 26-for-59 (44.1 percent) from the field while the defense held UNT-Dallas to its second-lowest shooting output of the season, going 21-of-63 (33.3 percent).
- On a rare occasion this season, MACU out-produced its opponent from the three-point arc as the Evangels shot 7-of-18 (38.9 percent) while the Trailblazers shot a season-worst 1-for-16 (6.3 percent) from downtown.
- While UNT-Dallas was able to get to the free throw line more frequently than the Evangels, MACU was able to take advantage of its opportunities as the Evangels finished 13-of-18 (72.2 percent) from the line while the Trailblazers converted only 12-for-23 (52.2 percent).
- Both teams were able to finish with a relatively even floor game as MACU held a slight 45-43 edge on the glass while both teams closed out the contest with 15 turnovers apiece.
- For the first time this season, Mid-America Christian had five players reached double-figures. Tarrence Gaines led the way by notching his second career double-double with 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting, including going 2-for-3 from three along with his team-high10 rebounds. Eylan Goodwyn also poured in 12 points on 3-for-5 from the floor and went 6-for-8 from the foul stripe.
- Trevonte Doolittle was fantastic off the bench for MACU, recording his second double-digit scoring output of the season with 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting in 16 minutes of action.
- Jaylon Barnett finished the contest with 10 points on 4-of-10 shooting and produced a strong floor game with a game-high six assists to only two turnovers while pulling down five boards. Seth Hurd rounded out the double-digit scoring with 10 points on 3-of-8 from the floor and 4-for-7 from the free throw line.
- The Evangels dominated from nearly tip to final buzzer as MACU trailed for only 38 seconds of the 40-minute contest.
- With the victory, Mid-America Christian is currently on its largest win streak of the season with its third straight. The win also allowed MACU to go to 4-0 all-time against UNT-Dallas with the series beginning with the Trailblazers in the inaugural season in the Sooner Athletic Conference last year.
UP NEXT
- Mid-America Christian will be back on the road on Saturday as the Evangels will head to Waxahachie, Texas to take on Southwestern Assemblies of God. The game is scheduled to tip-off at 3:45 p.m. inside the Sheaffer Center.
