OKLAHOMA CITY – The MACU Men's Basketball team faced a stiff test from Randall inside the Gaulke Activity Center on Monday night as the Saints were red-hot from behind the arc. However, the Evangels were also able to execute extremely well on the offensive end to run away with the 95-81 win.
 
TOP PERFORMERS

• Josiah Fulcher – 24 Points, 10-17 FG, 2-6 3FG, 2-2 FT, 7 Reb, 6 Assists, 2 Steals
• Keeshawn Mason – 19 Points, 8-11 FG, 3-4 FT, 7 Reb, 3 Steals, 2 Assists
• Tarrence Gaines – 17 Points, 6-10 FG, 3-6 3FG, 2-2 FT, 12 Reb
• Magok Manyang – 13 Points, 5-12 FG, 3-7 3FG, 3 Steals, 2 Reb
• Juwan White – 9 Points, 4-6 FG, 9 Assists

GAME SUMMARY

• First Half
  • Mid-America Christian (2-0) came out of the gate ablaze as Tarrence Gaines drained a three from the right wing on the opening possession to ignite an eight-unanswered run to start as Juwan White's and-one and Keeshawn Mason's lay-in made it 8-0 just two minutes in.
  • With 14:17 to go, a Braeden Barrs-Richardson three jumpstarted a 15-6 Randall run as Kaiden Ryan's layup gave the Saints their first lead at 22-20 with 11:08 left.
  • The Evangels stemmed the tide over the next five minutes as another Gaines bucket at the 10:03 mark allowed MACU to rattle off a 13-6 run to recapture the advantage at 33-28 on Magok Manyang's second chance three of Mason's offensive board with 5:51 on the clock.
  • Going blow-for-blow over the next few minutes, the Evangels following Juwan White's strong take to the basket with just under four minutes to go, Mid-America Christian scored 10 of the next 12 as Marque Wilkerson's foul shot with 1:56 left gave MACU its first double-digit advantage at 48-38.
  • On the final possession of the half, Josiah Fulcher gave MACU some momentum going into the locker room by flushing a sensational alley-oop dunk off a perfect White pass with four seconds to go to make it a 50-40 game at the break.
• Second Half
  • Both teams traded runs to start the second half as Randall scored the first five points before the Evangels countered with eight-unanswered with Fulcher's lay-in at the 16:40 mark extending the MACU edge to 58-45.
  • The Saints once again fought back to close it to a six-point game on two occasions, following a Barrs-Richardson three to make it 60-54 and a pair of Barrs-Richardson foul shots to set it to 62-56 with 14:47 left, but Mid-America Christian would not allow Randall to climb any closer in the contest.
  • MACU gradually built its edge back out to double-digits over the next seven minutes and even though a Barrs-Richardson triple briefly cut it to single-figures at 80-71, Manyang answered back with a three of his own from the right corner on the ensuing possession. That three-ball allowed MACU to score eight-straight as Gaines buried a long ball off a third offensive rebound with 5:38 left, giving the Evangels their largest lead of the contest at 88-71.
  • Randall was only able to knock as many as four points off the Evangels lead the rest of the way as MACU eventually secured the 95-81 win.

GAME NOTES

• Mid-America Christian executed well on the offensive end, shooting 55.2 percent (37-of-67) from the field and 36 percent (9-for-25) from three while converting on 66.7 percent (12-of-18) from the foul line.
• The Evangels struggled to contain Randall's blazing three-point shooting as the Saints shot 50 percent (13-for-26) from downtown and 49.1 percent (26-of-53) from the field while making 69.6 percent (16-for-23) from the charity stripe.
• While the two teams were relatively even in-possession as the Evangels committed just one less turnover, MACU was dominant on the glass, outrebounding the Saints 42-24 with a 16-7 edge in offensive boards. As a result, MACU held a commanding 21-8 lead in second chance points.
• Josiah Fulcher paced four Evangels in double-figure scoring with a game-high 24 points on 10-of-17 shooting while also tabulating a sensational floor game with seven boards, six assists and two steals.
• Keeshawn Mason and Magok Manyang were big for MACU in the second half with Mason scoring 11 of his 19 points in the second stanza and Manyang notching 10 of his 13 points as well. Mason finished with a highly efficient 8-for-11 shooting to go with seven rebounds and three steals while Manyang recorded three steals on the defensive end.
• Tarrence Gaines recorded his seventh career double-double while leading MACU on the glass, tallying 17 points on 6-of-10 from the floor and 3-for-6 from three to go with a game-high 12 boards.
• Juwan White also just barely missed recording a double-double of his own by scoring nine points on 4-of-6 shooting while once again putting together an incredible floor game with a 9-to-1 assist-turnover ratio. Through the first two games, White has dished out 16 assists while giving the ball away only twice.
• With the win, MACU improved to 19-4 against Randall since the 2004 season while extending its win streak in the series to 10 in a row since 2018.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will host its annual Homecoming game on Saturday, Nov. 2 as the Evangels will battle Ozark Christian in its final regular season non-conference game. Tip-off is slated for 4 p.m. inside the Gaulke Activity Center.