OKLAHOMA CITY – For the third consecutive year, the MACU men's basketball team and Bethel went to the wire inside the Gaulke Activity Center on Tuesday afternoon, but the Evangels were unable get things going offensively as the Threshers escaped with a 51-49 win.
 
TOP PERFORMERS

• Eddie Smith – 18 Points, 6-12 FG, 2-3 3FG, 4-4 FT, 4 Reb
• Jasiah Lewis – 11 Points, 3-6 FG, 5-5 FT, 4 Reb
• Magok Manyang – 10 Points, 3-7 FG, 2-6 3FG, 8 Reb

GAME SUMMARY

• First Half
  • Mid-America Christian (2-1) started off strong on the offensive end through the first 5:33 as the Evangels jumped out to a 12-7 lead with half of MACU's points coming from Seth Hurd when he dropped in his third bucket on a close floater off a great Mikel Henderson dish with 14:27 left.
  • The Evangels built their lead out to as much as six on Eddie Smith's triple from the left wing off some great ball movement by Henderson and Conner Calavan to make it 15-9 at the 13:16 mark, but Bethel (1-2) put together a stifling defensive effort over the next four minutes, holding MACU to without a field goal during that stretch as Jalyn Todd's layup made it a 17-16 game with just under 10 minutes left.
  • MACU finally snapped the spell with 8:43 to go on a Jasiah Lewis floating jumper that banked in and drew the foul to complete the three-point play before Smith's fastbreak layup off Quentin Woodson's steal on the ensuing possession pushed the Evangels' edge back out to 22-16.
  • The Threshers managed to close the gap to one once again, but Smith produced the next five MACU points with a pair of foul shots before burying a side-step three from the right wing to make it 27-21 with just under five minutes remaining.
  • That three-ball would be the last Evangels field goal in the first half as the Threshers closed out the final five minutes with a 7-1 run that was capped off on Brayden Schilling's tip-in at the buzzer to send BC into the half with the 29-28 edge.
• Second Half
  • MACU came out of the locker room with all of the momentum as the Evangels held Bethel to without a score through the first 5:44. Meanwhile, Mid-America Christian put together an 11-0 run finished off on Manyang's three-ball from the left wing on Henderson's kickout to give MACU its largest lead of the contest at 39-29 with 15:42 to go.
  • Once again, the Threshers defense clamped down on the Evangels over the next eight minutes as a Smith jumper at the 10:04 mark was the only MACU score during BC's 17-2 run that was finished off by a Marcus Lamonde three with 7:22 remaining.
  • Smith briefly snapped the skid with a put-back layup following Tarrence Gaines' offensive board, but at the 6:50 mark, but Keyaun Hoskin's three-bomb from the top of the key off Harper Jonas' offensive board and kickout gave the Threshers their largest lead of the game at 49-43 with five-and-a-half remaining.
  • In the defensive slugfest, that would be the only field goal for either side in the next five minutes as Manyang finally gave MACU a chance when he buried a contested three from the right wing with 31 seconds to go to make it a one-possession game at 51-48.
  • Mid-America Christian's full-court press forced an errant Nick Bonner pass for a turnover, but Manyang wasn't able to hit a second clutch three on the ensuing possession, forcing the Evangels to foul to send Bethel to the line in the bonus.
  • Jonas came up empty on the front-end of his one-and-one opportunity, giving MACU another chance at an equalizer. However, a missed three by Henderson led to a Calavan offensive board as he was fouled going up for the layup with 2.5 seconds left.
  • Calavan knocked down the first to set up a potential tip-in opportunity, but the junior guard's opportunity to set it up was squandered when MACU was called for an offensive lane violation on the second attempt, giving possession back to the Threshers.
  • Bethel's Hoskin once again missed the front end, but the Evangels were unable to get a full-court heave to fall as BC held on for the 51-49 win.

GAME NOTES

• Mid-America Christian shot for a slightly higher percentage than Bethel, knocking down 16-for-48 (33.3 percent), but once again struggled from three by converting just 4-of-19 (21.1 percent). Meanwhile, Bethel finished 18-for-62 (29.0 percent) from the field and 8-for-36 (22.2 percent) from three.
• Second chance opportunities were key for the Threshers as BC outrebounded MACU 43-40 with a 16-9 edge on the offensive glass.
• Not only did MACU have a tough time shooting against Bethel's defense, but the Threshers managed to force the Evangels into committing a season-high 19 turnovers while BC finished with 15 giveaways.
• One area the Evangels were able to keep it close was their efficiency from the free throw line as MACU made 13-of-17 (76.5 percent) of its attempts while Bethel was held to 7-for-10 (70 percent) from the stripe.
• For the third-straight game, it was Eddie Smith that led MACU's offensive output with a game-high 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting, 2-of-3 from three and knocked down all four of his free throw attempts.
• Jasiah Lewis also finished in double-figures with 11 points on 3-of-6 from the field and pulled down four boards while Magok Manyang was the only other Evangel to reach double-digits with 10 points and a team-high eight rebounds.
• The defeat to the powerhouse Bethel program was the team's first ever loss to the Threshers since the two teams started playing each other in 2021. MACU won the two previous meetings in thrilling fashion, getting a 92-84 overtime win against the Threshers on Nov. 6, 2021 inside the Gaulke Activity Center on Terrance Jones' game-tying buzzer beater at the end of regulation before MACU pulled out a 72-69 win at Bethel on Dec. 16, 2022 on Seth Hurd's late jumper and two clutch Tarrence Gaines free throws.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will go on an exhibition stint with its next contest as the Evangels will head to Tulsa, Oklahoma on Friday for a 7 p.m. tip-off at NCAA Division I Oral Roberts inside the Mabee Center.