OKLAHOMA CITY – The MACU men's basketball team shut down the top scoring offense in the Sooner Athletic Conference entering Thursday night as the Evangels cruised to their fifth-straight victory by a score of 86-76 over No. 25 Southwestern Assemblies of God inside the Gaulke Activity Center.
 
TOP PERFORMERS

• Eddie Smith – 17 Points, 6-12 FG, 3-5 3FG, 2-2 FT, 6 Reb, 3 Assists
• Mikel Henderson – 12 Points, 5-12 FG, 2-5 3FG, 4 Assists
• DeAngelo Adkins – 10 Points, 5-10 FG, 13 Reb, 2 Assists, 2 Blocks
• Jasiah Lewis – 9 Points, 8 Assists, 6 Reb, 2 Steals

GAME SUMMARY

• First Half
  • Mid-America Christian (11-5, 7-3 SAC) set the tone right out of the gate as the Evangels scored the first six points on buckets from Magok Manyang, Seth Hurd and DeAngelo Adkins before SAGU scored their first points on a CJ Hall fadeaway jumper to make it 6-2 with 17:03 left.
  • The Evangels scored on the next two possessions as Hurd's strong right hook in the paint pushed it to a 10-2 advantage with 15:47 left, forcing Southwestern Assemblies of God (11-5, 7-3 SAC) to call a timeout.
  • SAGU cut it down to a three-point game on a couple of occasions over the next few minutes, the last coming on a CJ Hall midrange jumper with just over 13 minutes left to make it a 14-11 game, but the Evangels answered on a huge Mikel Henderson three on the ensuing possession before Quentin Woodson's strong finish with 11:59 to go brought it back to 19-11.
  • CJ Hall's lay-in on the ensuing possession started a strong 18-4 Lions run as a trio of three-pointers on three consecutive possessions allowed SAGU to grab its largest lead on Trace Boling's fastbreak long-ball to make it 29-23 with 8:10 to go.
  • After MACU head coach Josh Gamblin called a timeout to rally the troops, the Evangels put together an 8-2 run to get back in it with Hurd's hook in the lane tying it back up at 31-all with 4:42 remaining, forcing another SAGU timeout.
  • Southwestern Assemblies briefly regained a two-point advantage on Alerick Hall's layup at the four-minute mark, but MACU surged back in-front on a Mikel Henderson three-pointer off an offensive board to set the score to 35-33 with 2:39 left.
  • It was back-and-forth over the final two-and-a-half as SAGU tied it up twice against the Evangels, but Hurd forced the Evangels into the lead just before the half with a strong finish in the paint with seven seconds left, making it a 39-37 game at the break.
• Second Half
  • Southwestern Assemblies scored seven of the first 10 to start the second half as an Alerick Hall steal led to his own layup on the other end to put the Lions back into the lead at 44-42 with 17:47 left.
  • The advantage changed hands four times and was tied twice over the next three minutes as two CJ Hall free throws brought it even at 52-all with just under 15 minutes to go, but Henderson's incredible floating jumper in the lane put MACU back in-front as the Evangels put together a 10-unanswered run capped off on Quentin Woodson's three-point play with at the 13:22 mark to make it 62-52.
  • Another CJ Hall layup with 11:09 to go knocked it back down to single-digits, but the Evangels captured their largest lead of the contest by scoring six-straight over the next three possessions as Eddie Smith drove down the right side for a wide-open layup to set the score to 70-56 with 9:49 remaining.
  • MACU went cold over the next three minutes as six-unanswered SAGU points brought it back to single-digits before Smith buried a cold-blooded three following three consecutive offensive rebounds to push it back to 73-62 at the 6:39 mark.
  • The Evangels defense stymied Southwestern Assemblies down the stretch as the Lions would only score six points over the final eight minutes as the Evangels cruised to a 78-68 victory.

GAME NOTES

• Mid-America Christian shot an efficient 32-for-66 (48.5 percent) from the field despite knocking down just 6-of-21 (28.6 percent) from three-point range while going 8-for-15 (53.3 percent) from the free throw line.
• Entering the evening as the top scoring offense in the Sooner Athletic Conference at 86.2 ppg, the Evangels held Southwestern Assemblies of God to its second-lowest scoring output of the season, being held to just 25-of-65 (38.5 percent) from the floor.
• SAGU also entered the night as the top three-point shooting team in the entire NAIA at 41.9 percent, but MACU held the Lions to just 7-for-28 (25 percent), their worst three-point performance of the season.
• MACU downright dominated the glass, outrebounding SAGU 47-33 with a 14-6 edge on the offensive glass to give MACU a 20-5 advantage in second chance points. The Evangels also controlled the painted area throughout the entire contest, outscoring the Lions 44-28 on points in the paint.
• MACU continued to show incredible offensive balance with five players scoring in double-figures, narrowly missing six as Jasiah Lewis finished with nine points. Eddie Smith led MACU's offensive efforts with 17 points on 6-of-12 shooting, going 3-for-5 from three to go with six boards and three assists.
• The tandem of Mikel Henderson and Seth Hurd finished with 12 points apiece as Henderson went 5-of-12 from the field, including 2-for-5 from three while dishing out four assists while Hurd knocked down 6-for-11 to go with three boards.
• DeAngelo Adkins recorded his first career double-double with the Evangels after finishing with 10 points on 5-of-10 shooting to go with a game-high 13 rebounds and a pair of blocked shots while Quentin Woodson rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points on a perfect 4-for-4 with six boards.
• Lewis put together a stellar stat line with his nine points as he dished out eight assists and pulled down six rebounds to go with a pair of steals.
• The Evangels snapped their three-game losing streak to Southwestern Assemblies while also getting their first win over the Lions inside the Gaulke Activity Center since a 90-86 victory in their home venue on Jan. 18, 2020.
• MACU also picked up its second NAIA Top 25 victory of the season after getting a stunning 62-61 win at No. 10 Wayland Baptist on Nov. 30 on Lewis' buzzer-beating heave.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will wrap-up the first half of SAC play on the road on Saturday as the Evangels travel to UNT Dallas for a 3:45 p.m. tip-off inside the Trinity Basin Preparatory Athletic Complex.