SILOAM SPRINGS, Ark. – The MACU Women's Basketball team continues to solidify itself as one of the best fourth quarters teams in the country as the Evangels battled back for a hard-fought road victory inside Bill George Arena on Thursday night, outscoring John Brown 21-10 in the final quarter to capture the 71-62 victory.
  
TOP PERFORMERS 

• Kylee Scheer – 17 Points, 7-15 FG, 5 Reb, 3 Assists, 3 Steals
• Harley Harbour – 16 Points, 7-9 FG, 7 Reb
• Shy Christopher – 16 Points, 6-17 FG, 4 Reb, 3 Steals, 2 Assists 

GAME SUMMARY 

• First Quarter 
  • After a couple of defensive stops, Mid-America Christian (8-0, 4-0 SAC) struck first 1:36 into the contest with Talayah Thomas driving to the rack to put the Evangels up 2-0.  
  • Tightly-knitted defense by both teams enabled a scoreless drought until 5:51 remaining when a Kylee Scheer takeaway from midcourt led to the easy fast break layup to set the score to 4-0.  
  • Back-to-back buckets by Harley Harbour gave the Evangels an 8-2 lead, but John Brown (3-3, 1-1 SAC) outscored MACU 11-6 over the next 4:21 with nine points coming on 3-for-3 three-point shooting by Riley Gottsponer.  
  • With 1:02 remaining, an offensive rebound and mid-range jumper by Scheer concluded scoring in the quarter for the Evangels, however the Golden Eagles struck for five unanswered with Sarah Snodgrass making it 14-13 MACU heading into the second.  

• Second Quarter 
  • 41 seconds in, Gottsponer provided JBU with its first lead of the day on a lay-up from the right side of the hoop. A minute later, MACU recaptured the lead 16-15 with Shy Christopher getting on the scoreboard after a quiet first.  
  • Carley Sexton drilled a three-ball on Snodgrass's assist to put JBU up 20-18, but Alexis Borgstadt tied it up at 20-20 on a right-handed drive to the basket with 6:33 to go. Sexton was able to stay hot for the Golden Eagles as another three-ball and layup led to a slight 5-1 surge to give JBU a 25-21 advantage.  
  • The next 2:59 consisted of just one bucket on both sides with the lone bucket coming on an athletic mid-air hand switching layup by Christopher off the bank to cut JBUs lead to 25-23 with 2:52 remaining. 
  • JBU found its largest lead of the half with under a minute left on another triple by Gottsponer to go up 28-23, but the Evangels countered with their own three from the left elbow by Scheer to make it 28-26 going into halftime. 

• Third Quarter 
  • After trading buckets for a minute and 47 seconds Christopher was able to find a cutting Thomas to make it 33-32 in favor of JBU. MACU was held scoreless for the next 3:03 but limited JBU to just four points in the process. 
  • With 5:20 to go, a turnaround lefty hook by Scheer made it a one possession game down 37-34, however, the Golden Eagles stuck back for an 11-4 run that included three threes from a trio of players, the last coming from Caelyn Ferguson to make it 48-38 JBU with 2:58 to go.
  • The Evangels put together a late response, stringing together a huge 12-4 surge over the final 2:37 capped off on Hailey Tunnell's offensive board and put-back at the buzzer to draw the deficit down to 54-52.  

• Fourth Quarter 
  • 31 seconds into the quarter, Christopher attacked to the rack while drawing a foul in the process to regain the lead for the Evangels 53-52. The Evangels started the period by scoring the first eight as Harbour's offensive put-back stretched the MACU lead to 58-52 with 8:10 to go. 
  • With 7:40 remaining, a Gottsponer three-ball once again closed it to a one-possession game at 58-55. 
  • MACU boosted its lead to eight after back-to-back buckets by Harbour, but the Golden Eagles once again struck from behind the arc as Snodgrass corner strike made it 64-59 with 3:59 left.  
  • JBU limited MACU to just one point over the next 2:29, as a foul by Borgstadt allowed Abbey Sanders to knock down a pair from the charity stripe to trim the Evangels' edge to 65-62 with 1:30 left. 
  • The Evangels closed out the contest by scoring six-unanswered with Scheer draining a three, Harbour knocking down a foul shot and a Scheer getting a sideline takeaway and saved assist to the breaking Christopher with the dagger lay-in with 28 seconds left, giving MACU the 71-62 victory. 

GAME NOTES 

• The shooting numbers between the two squads were relatively even with Mid-America Christian (29-for-69, 42.6 percent) slimly out-shooting John Brown (21-51, 41.2 percent). However, the Golden Eagles were able to make up some ground from beyond the arc as JBU finished 11-for-27 (40.7 percent) while MACU converted just 3-of-17 (17.6 percent). 
• Entering the contest as one of the best rebounding teams in the country, second chance points proved to be the difference maker for the Evangels as they scored 23 points off offensive boards while holding the Golden Eagles to without a single second-chance score, primarily stemming from a 16-2 margin on the offensive while out-rebounding JBU 43-27 for the night. 
• Kylee Scheer was able to get back on the floor after missing her first career game at MACU, she led the Evangels scoring with 17 points on 7-for-15 shooting. Scheer also once again provided a strong floor game, finishing with five boards while also leading the team with three assists and three steals.
• After getting off to a slow start offensively to the season, Harley Harbour had another successful game on the floor, going 7-for-9 for 16 points, making it back-to-back games of at least 16 points. Harbour also led MACU on the glass with seven boards. 
• Despite not scoring in the first quarter, Shy Christopher was able to overcome a 0-for-5 start to finish with 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting the rest of the way. Christopher put together an overall solid performance with four rebounds, three steals and two assists. 
• While JBU held the advantage from the arc, MACU held a huge advantage on the inside scoring as the Evangels outscored the Golden Eagles 58-23 in the paint. 
• With the win tonight, the Evangels improved to 8-0 on the season and snapped the Golden Eagles' three-game win streak over MACU.

UP NEXT 

• Mid-America Christian returns home to the Gaulke Activity Center this Saturday with its first official matchup against Sooner Athletic Conference newcomer College of the Ozarks with the contest slated for a 2 p.m. tip-off.