BETHANY, Okla. – The MACU men's basketball team picked up its most lopsided win over one of its biggest rivals since joining the NAIA in 2007 as the Evangels went into Pickens-Springer Gymnasium on Monday night and came away with a 99-64 victory.
 
TOP PERFORMERS

• Mikel Henderson – 15 Points, 5-11 FG, 4-9 3FG, 3 Reb, 3 Assists
• Eddie Smith – 12 Points, 5-7 FG, 2-3 3FG, 6 Reb, 3 Assists
• Quentin Woodson – 12 Points, 5-6 FG, 5 Reb
• Jasiah Lewis – 11 Points, 4-6 FG, 2-2 3FG, 6 Assists, 2 Reb

GAME SUMMARY

• First Half
  • Mid-America Christian (8-5, 4-3 SAC) set the tone as Mikel Henderson and Magok Manyang scored all of MACU's 10 points with Manyang burying a right baseline jumper to give MACU the 10-0 advantage at the 17:50 mark.
  • Southwestern Christian (0-9, 0-7 SAC) finally got on the board with a Ron Moore three on the ensuing possession, but Henderson quickly built MACU's double-digit lead back with a left-wing three just 10 seconds later as MACU extended its edge to 18-3 on Seth Hurd's right-handed lay-in with 15:45 left.
  • Nearing the midway point of the half, SCU managed to whittle the Evangels' advantage down to single-digits on Rob Chapman's offensive board and putback, but MACU scored eight of the next nine with Eddie Smith burying a fall-away, right-wing three-ball with 9:56 remaining to double up the MACU lead to 30-15.
  • A Chapman three with 9:12 to go to make it 30-18 would be the closest SCU could cut into the MACU lead before the break as the Evangels closed out the final two minutes with a 7-0 run capped off on Conner Calavan's floating jumper in the late to beat the shot clock with six seconds remaining, sending MACU into the break with the 46-25 lead.
• Second Half
  • Following a Bralen Patterson layup to open the second half for the Eagles, Mid-America Christian scored nine of the next 13 points over the following three-and-a-half minutes before Tarrence Gaines buried a three from the right wing to set the score to 55-31 with 16:22 left.
  • MACU went cold over the next few minutes as the Eagles clawed back six points to close it to 55-37 on Moore's free throw with 14:30 to go, but the Evangels countered with six-unanswered of their own with Jasiah Lewis' foul shot at the 13:23 mark bringing it back to 61-37.
  • An 8-0 run by SCU near the midway point allowed the Eagles to bring it back to a 63-47 contest on Moore's triple with 10:25 remaining, but the Evangels put the game out of reach with a dominant 22-4 run that featured a pair of Zalek Sharp right corner threes before Lewis ended the run with five minutes left on a right wing three to set the score to 85-51.
  • Southwestern Christian was unable to knock the MACU edge to under 30 the rest of the way as Jalen Goar's left-corner three with 41 seconds left sealed the 99-64 final.

GAME NOTES

• Mid-America Christian put together one of its most efficient offensive outings of the season, shooting its second-best percentage of the season on 40-of-75 (53.3 percent) from the field and buried a season-most 14-for-32 (43.8 percent) from three despite being held to a season-low 5-of-10 (50 percent) from the free throw line.
• Southwestern Christian managed to finish 22-for-53 (41.5 percent) from the field, but could only convert 8-of-28 (28.6 percent) from three and shot 12-for-20 (60 percent) from the foul line.
• Mid-America Christian downright dominated the floor game, dishing out 25 assists while committing just eight turnovers while the Eagles committed 18 giveaways to just 12 assists. The Evangels also controlled the glass with a 42-28 margin with a 14-5 edge on the offensive glass.
• Mikel Henderson led five Evangels into double-figures with 15 points on 5-for-11 shooting, including going 4-of-9 from three to go with three boards and three assists.
• Eddie Smith and Quentin Woodson provided a major spark off the bench for MACU with Smith scoring 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting, going 2-for-3 from three while Woodson tallied 12 points on 5-of-6 from the field.
• Jasiah Lewis scored 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting and led MACU's distribution efforts with six assists to just one turnover while DeAngelo Adkins rounded out MACU's double-digit scorers with 10 points on 5-of-8 shooting.
• Tarrence Gaines also provided a spark off the MACU bench by scoring nine points on 4-of-6 from the floor and pulled down five boards in just 15 minutes of action.
• Overall, 12 different Evangels found themselves in the scoring column with Nick Bradley and Jalen Goar being late entries with each knocking down a three in the final minute.
• The Evangels picked up their first win inside Pickens-Springer Gymnasium since rallying from 10 points down in the final three minutes to come away with a 75-73 victory on Feb. 4, 2021. The 35-point margin of victory over SCU is also the largest MACU has put up against its rival since an 86-52 win at Southwestern Christian on Jan. 17, 2015.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will seek its third-straight Sooner Athletic Conference win on Thursday as the Evangels will be back on the road to battle crosstown foe Oklahoma City for a 7:45 p.m. tip-off inside Abe Lemons Arena.