WAXAHACHIE, Texas – The MACU Men's Basketball team shot the ball well from beyond the arc, but the Evangels were unable to slow down Nelson in its first regular season road game of the season inside the Sheaffer Center as the Lions held on for the 73-66 win on Saturday afternoon.
 
TOP PERFORMERS

• Josiah Fulcher – 18 Points, 7-16 FG, 4-10 3FG, 6 Reb, 3 Assists
• Juwan White – 15 Points, 6-11 FG, 2-4 3FG, 5 Reb, 3 Assists
• Tarrence Gaines – 9 Points, 3-8 FG, 3-7 3FG, 10 Reb, 2 Assists

GAME SUMMARY

• First Half
  • Both teams were able to break into the scoring column within their first two possessions before both teams hit a cold spell as neither team scored over a near three-minute stretch before Nelson (3-2, 1-1 SAC) snapped it on a CJ Hall midrange jumper stretched the Lions edge to 5-2 with 16:34 to go.
  • Mid-America Christian (4-1, 1-1 SAC) closed it to a two-point game on a pair of occasions, the last coming on a Josiah Fulcher offensive board and put-back to make it 7-6. However, the Lions countered by stringing together nine-unanswered behind a trio of threes as Justin Collins long ball set the score to 16-6 with 13:31 left.
  • MACU's defense stiffened up over the next six minutes the Evangels held Nelson to only one point over a 6:10 stretch. However, MACU was just as challenged to find the bottom of the cup as Zander Baker's left-wing triple at the 9:04 mark was only able to close the gap to 17-11.
  • Nelson rattled off four-straight following a Josiah Fulcher three to stretch its lead back out to nine at 25-16 with just over five minutes remaining before Baker buried another left corner three and Fulcher recovered his own missed left-handed fastbreak layup to put it in from the right side to cut the MACU deficit to 25-21 at the 4:02 mark.
  • The Evangels were unable to knock their deficit down any father over the final four minutes as a 6-2 Lions run over the final 1:30 allowed Nelson stretch its advantage to 35-26 heading into the halftime break.
• Second Half
  • Nelson managed to score five of the first six points to extend its lead to 40-27 through the first two minutes, but Magok Manyang soaked a right corner three to jumpstart a 12-7 MACU run that featured three-pointers, the last coming from Josiah Fulcher from the top of the key to make it 47-39 with 13:27 to go.
  • The Lions seized control back over the next three minutes, outscoring MACU 8-3 over the stretch take back a 13-point advantage before the Evangels countered once again with a pair of Fulcher three-point bombs to cut the deficit down to 55-48 with 9:12 on the clock.
  • While Nelson managed to get a pair of quick buckets to stretch the lead back to double-digits, the Evangels swung back with a pair of three of their own from Marque Wilkerson and Tarrence Gaines to close the gap to 60-54 with 6:17 to go.
  • Over the next five minutes, the Lions kept MACU from surging back any closer as Nelson once again pushed its advantage out to 13 on a pair of Justin Collins free throws with 1:37 remaining to set the score to 72-59.
  • The Evangels didn't go down without a fight as MACU scored the next seven on a pair of layups from Manyang and Fulcher to go with a Gaines three to close the gap to 72-66 with 36 seconds left, but the deficit was too much to overcome as Nelson held on for a 73-66 win.

MATCH NOTES

• While Mid-America Christian was held to just 4-of-15 (26.7 percent) from the three-point arc in the first half, the Evangels caught fire from downtown in the second, shooting 10-for-18 (55.6 percent) from range to finish 14-for-33 (42.4 percent) in the contest.
• Despite MACU's strong three-point shooting, the Evangels as a whole were held in-check from the field, shooting just 11-of-28 (39.3 percent) from inside the arc and only 2-for-7 (28.6 percent) from the foul line.
• Nelson managed to finish the contest 24-of-58 (41.4 percent) from the field and 9-for-27 (33.3 percent) from three, but the free throw contest was the biggest difference maker in the game as the Lions shot 16-for-23 (69.6 percent) from the stripe.
• Even though MACU was able to out-rebound Nelson 38-30 on the glass, the Lions won the turnover battle by an 18-8 margin to hold a 15-8 edge in points off giveaways.
• Josiah Fulcher and Juwan White were the lone Evangels to finish in double-figure scoring as Fulcher scored 18 points on 7-of-16 shooting, including 4-for-10 from three to go with six boards and three assists while White tallied 15 points on 6-for-11 from the floor and 2-of-4 from three while also notching five rebounds and three dimes.
• Tarrence Gaines narrowly missed a double-double as he turned in nine points on 3-of-7 shooting from three to go with 10 boards and a pair of assists.
• With the loss, MACU had its two-game win streak against the Lions snapped after picking up a seven-point win inside the Sheaffer Center last season.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will be looking to bounce-back with the short turnaround as the Evangels will be back inside the Gaulke Activity Center on Monday night to host Central Christian for a 7:45 p.m. tip-off.