OKLAHOMA CITY – The MACU Men's Basketball team withstood a late College of the Ozarks rally on Saturday afternoon inside the Gaulke Activity Center as some clutch shooting down the stretch propelled the Evangels to a 67-63 victory.   
 

TOP PERFORMERS 

• Magok Manyang – 23 Points, 8-12 FG, 5-7 3FG, 10 Reb 
• Josiah Fulcher – 16 Points, 5-10 FG, 3-6 3FG, 3 Reb, 4 Stl, 3 Ast 
• Keeshawn Mason – 10 Points, 5-12 FG, 9 Reb 

GAME SUMMARY 

• First Half 
  • Mid-America Christian (6-2, 3-2 SAC) came out the floodgates hot with a 15-4 run over the first 3:47 that was jumpstarted on an opening layup from Keeshawn Mason and closed off on a takeaway fast break jam by Tarrence Gaines.
  • With 13 minutes left in the half, College of the Ozarks (3-4, 1-3 SAC) cut it to a single-digit deficit on a Caleb Faulkner drilled triple on the feed from DJ Quarles
  • The next 3:20 consisted of just one bucket from both sides as Mason's layup on Juwan White's assist brought the Evangel lead up to 24-13 at the 11:13 mark. 
  • Both teams went blow-for-blow in the final 9:40 with Evangels scoring being closed off with 1:42 remaining after Quentin Woodson converted one of two at the line to give MACU its largest lead of the contest at 38-24.
  • However, Bobcats connected on a corner-three by Faulkner to cut the Evangels lead to 38-27 at the 38 second mark. The Bobcats had a chance at the end of the half to cut it to a single-digit deficit, but Kyle Flavin's buzzer-beating fastbreak layup was rejected by Gaines to keep it to an 11-point game at the break.
• Second Half
  • The Evangels struggled to get things going to kick off the half, being outscored 5-2 over the first 3:48 until Magok Manyang cashed in on lay-in off Josiah Fulcher's connection, pushing edge back out to double-digits at 42-32.
  • The offensive struggles continued for MACU as the Evangels were held scoreless over the next 5:16 while the Bobcats strung together a 10-0 run in the process. The Bobcats tied it up after Andrew Dalton provided a four-point play knotting it up at 42 with 12:28 to go. 
  • With 10:56 remaining, the Evangels broke the drought on deep jumper from the left elbow by Fulcher to regain the 44-42 advantage.  
  • Manyang kept the momentum going connecting from behind the arc with the left-elbow triple off the dime from White, extending it back to a two-possession game at 50-44.
  • The Evangels proceeded to outscore the Bobcats 8-4 over the following 3:07 to take a 58-48 lead with 5:33 left in the contest.  
  • COFO found some late life as a jumper from Garret Snyder ignited a 9-2 run, cutting the MACU lead to 60-57 with 1:20 to go.  
  • Mid-America Christian got back in the scoring column with Manyang striking from the left elbow on a huge trey off Fulcher's assist with just over a minute left to make it 63-57.
  • With MACU leading by four, White took a trip to the free throw line where he drilled both to extend the Evangels advantage to 66-60 with 11 seconds left
  •  The Bobcats made it interesting late as a three-pointer from the top of the arc by Dalton cut it to a three-point game with four seconds remaining. However, after being fouled immediately Zander Baker to hit the dagger free throw to ultimately seal the 67-63 victory.

GAME NOTES 

• College of the Ozarks was slightly more efficient from the field in the shooting category, going 21-for-49 (42.9 percent) to Mid-America Christian's 24-of-58 (41.4 percent). However, MACU held a commanding advantage on the glass, out-boarding the Bobcats 41-31, including grabbing nine more offensive boards that resulted in 20 second-chance points compared to just eight for COFO.
• After entering the contest as the worst three-point defense in the SAC, MACU completely shut down the Bobcats from the perimeter, holding COFO to just 5-for-22 (22.7 percent) while the Evangels were more efficient by going 8-of-25 (32.0 percent)
• Even though College of the Ozarks managed to tie it up once in the second half, the Evangels nearly pulled off the complete wire-to-wire win as COFO never led at any point through the 40-minute contest.
• Magok Manyang led all scorers with 23 points, his five three-pointers set a new career-high after going a blistering 5-for-7 from behind the arc. His previous best three-point outing came in 62-61 win at Wayland Baptist on Nov. 30, 2023 when he nailed four long balls. Manyang also tied his career-high in rebounds as he finished with the double-double with 10 boards, marking the fifth double-double of his two-year MACU career.
•  It was an all-around great performance for Josiah Fulcher as he turned in 16 points to go with a game-high four steals, three rebounds and three assists. 
• Keeshawn Mason just missed his first career double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds.  
• Quentin Woodson contributed seven of the eight bench points with five rebounds as well. 
• Despite a cold night on the offensive end, Juwan White still managed to lead MACU's distribution efforts with five assists.
• With the win, the Evangels remain unbeaten at home with a 6-0 record inside the Gaulke Activity Center this season.  

UP NEXT 

• Mid-America Christian will have a tough task as they head to Langston, Oklahoma on Tuesday to take on the No. 1 ranked team in the NAIA in the Langston Lions. Tip-off is slated for 7:45 p.m. inside the C.F. Gayles Field House.