OKLAHOMA CITY – The MACU men's basketball team had to stave off a late Central Christian rally, but the Evangels wrapped up their five-game home stand with a bounce-back win as the Evangels came away with 76-75 victory on Saturday.
 
TOP PERFORMERS

• Seth Hurd – 14 Points, 6-12 FG, 2-4 FT, 7 Reb, 2 Steals
• Tarrence Gaines – 12 Points, 4-6 FG, 2-2 3FG, 2-2 FT, 6 Reb, 2 Assists
• Eddie Smith – 11 Points, 3-5 FG, 2-4 3FG, 3-4 FT, 2 Assists

GAME SUMMARY

• First Half
  • Central Christian (6-7, 3-4 SAC) got off to a fast start against Mid-America Christian (7-5, 3-3 SAC), opening with a 15-5 run capped off on Malachi Farr's three off a right-wing curl with 14:31 to go, prompting MACU head coach Josh Gamblin to call a timeout.
  • The Evangels answered back on the ensuing possession with a Mikel Henderson jab-step three from the right wing to jumpstart a 7-0 run finished off on Tarrence Gaines' transition layup off a Eddie Smith dish to make it a one-possession game at 15-12 with 13:32 left.
  • The Tigers defense kept MACU in-check over the next four minutes, outscoring the Evangels 8-2 to stretch their lead back to nine at 23-14 on Isaiah Perry's offensive put-back with just under 10 minutes remaining.
  • A pair of Smith three-balls over the next minute allowed Mid-America Christian to close it back to 25-20 the 9:08 mark, but CCCK clamped down defensively over the next few minutes to stretch its edge back to double-digits, taking its largest lead of the contest at 32-20 on Perry's lay-in with just under seven minutes to go.
  • Another Henderson triple with 4:28 left ignited a downright dominant Evangels run to close out the first half as MACU went on a 17-0 run as Gaines' fastbreak layup with 26 seconds left sent MACU into the break with a 39-34 advantage.
• Second Half
  • The Tigers briefly closed it to a one-possession game on a pair of Chris Whitten foul shots, but a Seth Hurd layup and a DeAngelo Adkins left corner three with 18:29 remaining pushed the MACU edge out to 44-36.
  • Mid-America Christian took its first double-digit lead on Hurd's powered in layup while drawing the foul with 16:56 remaining to make it 48-38.
  • Central Christian was unable to cut MACU's advantage to less than three possessions over the next seven minutes as a pair of Gaines foul shots with 9:44 left gave the Evangels their largest lead of the contest at 63-50.
  • The Tigers slowly chiseled away at the MACU lead over the next six minutes before Omari Maulana's three-ball from the left corner off an offensive board cut it to a one-possession game at 70-68 with 3:30 to go.
  • A Jasiah Lewis pull-up jumper at the 3:07 mark pushed the MACU edge back to two possessions, but CCCK's defense once again clamped down to allow the Tigers to take the lead with 47 seconds left on Andre Shelby's right-wing three to set the score 73-72.
  • After a MACU full timeout, Hurd put the Evangels' in-front for good with a fallaway hook shot in the paint with 26 seconds remaining.
  • On the ensuing possession, Magok Manyang came up with a huge blocked shot on Jevarrick Butler's driving layup down the right lane and after coming down the with the defensive board and drawing the foul, Hurd buried two clutch free throws with 9.5 seconds to go.
  • Strategically, the Evangels committed a non-shooting foul with five seconds left as Maulana knocked down both free throws. However, MACU managed to inbound against the Tigers press and was able to keep the ball away and run out the clock before CCCK could foul to hold on for the thrilling 76-75 victory.

GAME NOTES

• In another low possession contest, Mid-America Christian was efficient in their offensive game, shooting 28-for-59 (47.5 percent) from the field, including 8-for-15 (53.3 percent) from three while shooting 12-of-18 (66.7 percent) from the charity stripe.
• Meanwhile, MACU's defense held the Tigers to just 21-for-58 (36.2 percent) shooting, going 7-of-25 (28 percent) from three, but Central Christian managed to stay in the contest behind some prolific free throw shooting, knocking down 26-of-27 (96.3 percent).
• Mid-America Christian held a slim 38-37 lead on the glass while committing just one more turnover than the Tigers, 12-11.
• The MACU defense was especially able to frustrate one of the Sooner Athletic Conference top scorers in Chris Whitten. The sophomore guard for the Tigers averaging 20.5 points per game coming in scored just 12 points on 4-of-15 shooting, including going 0-for-5 from three.
• Six different Evangels scored nine or more points, led by Seth Hurd who scored 12 of his team-high 14 points in the second half on 6-of-12 from the floor to go with a team-high seven rebounds and two steals.
• Tarrence Gaines and Eddie Smith provided a big spark off the MACU bench as Gaines scored a season-high 12 points on 4-of-6 from the field, including going 2-for-2 from three and 2-of-2 from the line to go with six boards. Smith poured in 11 points on 3-of-5 shooting, going 2-for-4 from three and 3-of-4 from the line with a pair of assists.
• Mikel Henderson, DeAngelo Adkins and Magok Manyang each recorded nine points apiece for the Evangels.
• Jasiah Lewis led MACU's distribution efforts with an incredible floor game, dishing out a career-high eight assists while committing just one turnover from the point position.
• Mid-America Christian improved to 17-2 against Central Christian since the 2002-03 season while winning its eighth-straight home game against the Tigers.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will return to the road on Monday as the Evangels will head to Bethany to take on crosstown rival Southwestern Christian for a 6 p.m. tip-off inside Pickens-Springer Gymnasium.