OKLAHOMA CITY – The MACU men's basketball team will be looking to bounce back heading into the Christmas break with a pair of non-conference home contests inside the Gaulke Activity Center to wrap-up the 2023 portion of the schedule. The Evangels will face off against Evangel (Mo.) at 3 p.m. on Thursday before taking on Kansas Christian at 3 p.m. on Saturday.
 
MACU SEASON REPORT

• Record: 5-3 (2-2 SAC)
• Last Game: Lost vs. (RV) Science & Arts (Okla.) – 90-69 – Dec. 11, 2023 – Gaulke Activity Center
• Stat Leaders:
  • Points: Eddie Smith (98, 12.3 ppg), Magok Manyang (82, 10.3 ppg), Jasiah Lewis (77, 9.6 ppg)
  • FG% (M-A, %): Magok Manyang (26-48, 54.2%), Seth Hurd (30-62, 48.4%), Jasiah Lewis (25-57, 43.9%)
  • 3FG% (M-A, %): Magok Manyang (13-30, 43.3%), Eddie Smith (13-34, 38.2%), Mikel Henderson (13-57, 22.8%)
  • FT% (M-A, %): Magok Manyang (17-22, 77.3%), Jasiah Lewis (21-29, 72.4%)
  • Rebounds: DeAngelo Adkins (53, 6.6 rpg), Magok Manyang (49, 6.1 rpg), Seth Hurd (35, 5.0 rpg)
  • Assists: Jasiah Lewis (21, 2.6 apg), Mikel Henderson (20, 2.5 apg), Eddie Smith (17, 2.1 apg)
  • Steals: DeAngelo Adkins (19, 2.4 spg), Eddie Smith (14, 1.8 spg), Jasiah Lewis (10, 1.3 spg)
  • Blocks: Magok Manyang (7, 0.9 bpg), DeAngelo Adkins (5, 0.6 bpg)
• Team Notes:
  • Mid-America Christian will be looking to bounce back from its toughest loss of the season on Monday when the Evangels suffered a 90-69 home loss to Science & Arts.
  • Entering that contest as the No. 1 field goal percentage defense (34.7 percent) and the No. 3 scoring defense (58.4 ppg) in the NAIA, the Evangels struggled to slow down the high octane Drovers offense, who scored more points than any of MACU's opponents this season while shooting 50 percent from the field.
  • One area MACU will also be looking to clean up is its rebounding efforts. Entering that contest against the Drovers, the Evangels were averaging 41.7 boards per game and were outrebounding their opponents by 6.8 boards per contest, but MACU lost the rebounding battle against USAO by a 50-32 margin.
  • One bright spot for the Evangels in that game against USAO was the bench production. 32 of MACU's 69 points came off the bench with Eylan Goodwyn (11 points) and Conner Calavan (10 points) notching their first double-digit contests of the season while Eddie Smith also chipped in eight points.

SCOUTING REPORT
Evangel (Mo.)

• Record: 6-4 (5-1 KCAC)
• Last Game: Won at Bethany (Kan.) – 72-61 – Dec. 9, 2023 – Lindsborg, Kan.
• Last Game vs MACU (2012-): EU won 88-85 – Nov. 16, 2012 – Bartlesville, Okla.
• Series Streak: EU won 1
• Players to Watch:
  • Josh Pritchett – GR – G
    • 140 Points (14.0 ppg), 50-102 FG (49.0%), 13-37 3FG (35.1%), 27-39 FT (69.2%), 50 Reb (5.0 rpg), 46 Assists (4.6 apg), 13 Steals (1.3 spg), 11 Blocks (1.1 bpg)
  • Jace Coffie – GR – F/C
    • 125 Points (12.5 ppg), 47-82 FG (57.3%), 29-39 FT (74.4%), 55 Reb (5.5 rpg), 20 Assists (2.0 apg), 13 Steals (1.3 spg)
  • Garrett Davault – SO – G
    • 103 Points (10.3 ppg), 40-69 FG (58.0%), 22-26 FT (84.6%), 31 Reb (3.1 rpg), 13 Assists (1.3 apg), 12 Steals (1.2 spg)
• Team Notes:
  • Evangel is coming off a pair of Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) victories last week, first picking up a 90-66 home win over Avila (Mo.) on Dec. 6 before heading on the road for a 72-61 win at Bethany (Kan.) on Dec. 9.
  • The Valor are one of the strongest offensive teams from the KCAC, ranking second in the conference in points per game (83.1) while putting together the league's best shooting percentage (50.0) and are the KCAC's second-most proficient free throw shooting team (74.1 percent).
  • Much like the Evangels, the Valor are an incredibly balanced offensive team with five players averaging more than nine points per game, headlined by graduate student guard Josh Pritchett. The offensive catalyst of the team, Pritchett not only leads the team in scoring at 14.0 ppg, but is also team's leading distributor at 4.6 assists per contest as well as the team's best shot blocker at 1.1 blocks per game.
  • Thursday's meeting will mark just the second time the two programs have met since Mid-America Christian joined the NAIA in 2007. Their lone meeting came inside the Mueller Sports Center on the campus of Oklahoma Wesleyan University in Bartlesville back on Nov. 16, 2012 as Evangel held on for a nail-biting 88-85 victory over MACU. In that contest, MACU Player of the Decade (2010-19) Charlie Shorter poured in 25 points on 10-of-21 shooting, including going 3-for-7 from three to go with three boards and three assists.

Kansas Christian

• Record: 3-5
• Last Game: Lost at College of the Ozarks (Mo.) – 79-72 – Dec. 8, 2023 – Point Lookout, Mo.
• Series vs MACU (2016-): MACU leads 2-0
• Last Game vs MACU: MACU won 107-98 – Oct. 27, 2023 – Oklahoma City (Paycom Center)
• Series Streak: MACU won 2
• Players to Watch:
  • Isaac Lane – SR – F
    • 132 Points (16.5 ppg), 47-112 FG (42.0%), 8-28 3FG (28.6%), 30-45 FT (66.7%), 54 Reb (6.8 rpg), 11 Assists (1.4 apg), 7 Steals (0.9 spg), 4 Blocks (0.5 bpg)
  • Malik Martin – SR – F
    • 129 Points (16.1 ppg), 44-101 FG (43.6%), 41-50 FT (82.0%), 37 Reb (4.6 rpg), 11 Assists (1.4 apg)
  • Kaiden Hunter – JR – G
    • 83 Points (10.4 ppg), 28-85 FG (32.9%), 17-45 3FG (37.8%), 10-18 FT (55.6%), 29 Reb (3.6 rpg), 23 Assists (2.9 apg), 13 Steals (1.6 spg)
• Team Notes:
  • On Saturday, Kansas Christian will be playing its third game in three days during a road stretch that takes the Falcons from Southwester Adventist (Texas) on Thursday, Dallas Christian on Friday before facing the Evangels on Saturday. Last week, KCC faced off against College of the Ozarks in a hard-fought road contest that saw the Bobcats pull away with the 79-72 win.
  • While the Falcons are averaging 77.5 points per game, KCC has struggled on the defensive end, allowing its opposition to score 83.3 ppg. One of the big factors in Kansas Christian's struggles has been in the rebounding department as the Falcons are being out-boarded by 10.1 per game margin.
  • Senior forwards Isaac Lane and Malik Martin have provided a bulk of KCC's scoring this season with each player averaging 16.5 ppg and 16.1 ppg respectively. Oscar Traylor leads the team on the glass at 7.2 rpg while Kaiden Hunter leads the distribution efforts at 2.9 apg.
  • Mid-America Christian and Kansas Christian will be meeting for just the second time since the 2016 season. The two teams met inside the Paycom Center last season on Oct. 27, 2022 as the Evangels held on for a hard-fought 107-98 victory. In his MACU debut, Seth Hurd provided a strong offensive effort, scoring 18 points on 9-of-10 shooting to go with five boards.