OKLAHOMA CITY – The MACU men's basketball team was unable to slow down a red-hot Evangel team in the second half as the Evangels fell 82-75 to the Valor inside the Gaulke Activity Center on Thursday afternoon.
 
TOP PERFORMERS

• Magok Manyang – 16 Points, 6-12 FG, 3-3 FT, 10 Reb
• Mikel Henderson – 16 Points, 3-10 FG, 2-5 3FG, 8-9 FT, 5 Reb, 3 Assists, 3 Steals
• Jasiah Lewis – 11 Points, 4-13 FG, 3-4 FT, 8 Reb, 6 Assists

GAME SUMMARY

• First Half
  • Evangel (7-4) managed to jump out to an early 5-3 lead at the 17:30 mark on a Bryce Hunt three and a Josh Mason go-ahead midrange jumper, but the Evangels surged in-front with a 9-2 run as Jasiah Lewis' strong take down the right lane for the layup made it a 12-7 MACU advantage with 15:39 remaining.
  • The Valor managed to cut it back to a two-point game at 14-12 with just under 14 minutes to go on Josh Pritchett's hoop-and-harm, but Mid-America Christian (5-4) held EU scoreless over the next four minutes as MACU extended its lead to 19-12 on Eylan Goodwyn's left elbow jumper with 10:39 left.
  • The Evangels went through a four-minute cold spell of their own right as Evangel cut it to a one-point game before Goodwyn buried a pair of foul shots to make it 21-18 with 6:42 on the clock.
  • A Mikel Henderson midrange bucket swelled the MACU edge out to five at 23-18 with 5:42 remaining, but the Valor drew it even at 27-all with three minutes to go on long three-pointer by Pritchett.
  • MACU's defense clamped down over the next two minutes to take back a two-point lead on free throws by Henderson and Quentin Woodson, but the Valor closed out by scoring the final six on a pair of threes by Carson Cavalier to go into the half with the 33-29 edge.
• Second Half
  • Evangel scored the first two buckets of the second half to stretch its lead out to 38-29, but after MACU head coach Josh Gamblin called a timeout to regroup, the Evangels fought back with six unanswered on a pair of Lewis layups before he found Woodson on a transition bucket with 16:19 to go to make it a 38-35 game.
  • Both teams swapped five-unanswered runs over the next two minutes, but the Valor took their first double-digit lead following a 7-0 run capped off on a Cavalier lay-in, setting the score to 50-40 with 12:46 remaining.
  • Evangel stretched its lead to as much as 13 at 59-46 just past the midway point on a Mason triple with 9:41 to go, but MACU managed to cut the deficit in-half over the next five minutes as Magok Manyang tipped in his own miss on a fastbreak to set the score to 71-64 just under four minutes left.
  • Following a Pritchett fadeaway jumper from the left wing on the ensuing possession, Mid-America Christian closed it to five on a Manyang fastbreak dunk and a Conner Calavan offensive board and put-back to close it to 73-68 with 2:05 on the clock.
  • A Garrett Devault three-point play and a Tarrence Gaines left corner three-pointer kept it to a five-point game at 76-71 with 51 seconds left, but the Evangels were unable to climb any closer due to the Valor's red-hot free throw shooting as EU closed out the 82-75 win.

GAME NOTES

• While Mid-America Christian was more efficient on the offensive end in the second half, shooting 42.1 percent over the final 20 minutes compared to 29.6 percent in the first half, the Evangels finished the contest shooting 24-of-65 (36.9 percent) from the field and just 5-for-30 (16.7 percent) from three.
• Evangel shot a slightly more efficient 27-for-64 (42.2 percent) from the floor and 7-of-22 (31.8 percent) from three.
• Both teams were highly efficient from the foul line with MACU going 22-for-26 (84.6 percent) while the Valor knocked down 21-of-25 (84.0 percent).
• Even though Evangel dominated the turnover battle, committing just seven turnovers to 18 giveaways for MACU, the Evangels dominated the glass, out-boarding EU 52-32 with a 19-7 edge on the offensive glass.
• Magok Manyang recorded his second double-double with the Evangels and his first since MACU's season-opening win against Randall, finishing with a team-high 16 points on 6-of-12 from the floor and 3-for-3 from the stripe to go with 10 boards.
• Mikel Henderson also finished with 16 points on 3-of-10 shooting, going 2-for-5 from three, the senior guard was highly efficient from the line by going 8-for-9 to go with five boards and three assists.
• Jasiah Lewis was the only other Evangels player to finish in double-figures with 11 points to go with a season-high eight boards and six assists to also lead MACU's distribution efforts.
• DeAngelo Adkins led MACU on the glass with a season-high 11 rebounds to go with three blocked shots while finishing with six points on the offensive end.
• Mid-America Christian struggled to find a way to slow down Evangel's balanced offensive attack as the Valor had six players finish in double-figures scoring.
• The Evangels were unable to record their first win against the Valor since moving up to the NAIA level in 2007 as EU is 2-0, winning two tight games in that stretch.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will look to try and head into the Christmas break on a high note as the Evangels will host Kansas Christian for a 3 p.m. tip-off inside the Gaulke Activity Center on Saturday.