OKLAHOMA CITY – The MACU Men's Basketball team picked up its first Sooner Athletic Conference road win in impressive fashion as the Evangels cruised to a 69-58 win inside Abe Lemons Arena on Saturday afternoon.
 
TOP PERFORMERS

• Tarrence Gaines – 12 Points, 4-9 FG, 3-7 3FG, 7 Reb, 2 Assists
• Morris Williams – 12 Points, 5-7 FG, 2-3 3FG, 3 Reb
• Josiah Fulcher – 11 Points, 4-11 FG, 3-5 3FG, 3 Assists
• Quentin Woodson – 11 Points, 3-4 FG, 5-8 FT

GAME SUMMARY

• First Half
  • Mid-America Christian struggled on the offensive end through the first six minutes as a Josiah Fulcher step-back three from the left elbow off a screen briefly tied it up at 6-all with 16:03 to go. However, Oklahoma City recaptured the lead off four quick points from James Cloud with his dunk on the right sideline drive gave OCU the 10-6 advantage with 14:39 remaining.
  • On the ensuing possession, Juwan White hit a step-back three from the top of the key to ignite an 11-unanswered Evangels run as Marque Wilkerson capped it with 11:05 left by rebounding Quentin Woodson's missed foul shot and laid it right back in to make it a 17-10 MACU advantage.
  • The Stars briefly cut it to a one-point game after scoring six-straight points with Beau Tranter's lay-in making it a 17-16 game with just under 10 minutes on the clock.
  • Once again, it was White firing up the MACU offense with another long three from the top of the key as the Evangels went on a 16-0 surge over the next six minutes. Woodson capped the run by getting the scoop shot lay-in off a phenomenal Josiah Fulcher dish to set the score to 33-16 with 3:53 left.
  • The Stars and Evangels traded the next three points over the next few minutes before MACU went into the break by scoring the final four points on a pair of Woodson free throws and a Williams tip-in with 1:31 to go to make it a 40-19 game at the break.
• Second Half
  • Oklahoma City came out with the momentum to start the second half as the Stars opened with an 11-5 run finished off on Avery Jackson's and-one at the 15:38 mark to cut the MACU lead down to 45-30.
  • The Evangels defense settled in over the next nine minutes, only allowing eight OCU points as MACU gradually built its advantage back out to 20-plus points on Magok Manyang's right-corner three with 6:49 left before Tarrence Gaines knocked down a foul shot with 5:54 to go, setting the score to 59-38.
  • Even though the Stars scored five of the next six to trim their deficit down, Mid-America Christian countered with eight-straight as a pair of threes from Gaines and Manyang set up the Aussie forward for the lay-in after coming up with a huge steal on the defensive end. It gave MACU its largest lead of the contest at 68-43 with 3:08 remaining.
  • The Stars closed out the contest by going on a 16-1 run against MACU's reserves, but the MACU advantage was too much to overcome as the Evangels secured the huge 69-58 road win.

GAME NOTES

• It was a tough shooting day for both squads as Mid-America Christian finished 25-of-66 (37.9 percent) to Oklahoma City's 21-for-56 (37.5 percent). However, the biggest difference in the contest came from MACU's outstanding three-point shooting as the Evangels put together one of their best outside performances by going 12-for-27 (44.4 percent) to only 6-of-23 (26.1 percent) for the Stars.
• The Evangels were also able to control both the glass and the turnover battle as MACU out-rebounded the Stars 43-40 with a 19-12 edge on the offensive glass while also committing just 12 turnovers to OCU's 21.
• MACU put together an incredibly balanced scoring effort with six players finishing with eight or more points as Tarrence Gaines led MACU with 12 points on 4-for-9, including 3-of-7 from three to go with a team-high seven boards and two assists.
• Morris Williams also turned in his first double-digit scoring game for MACU this season as he also finished with 12 points on a highly efficient 5-of-7 from the field, including 2-for-3 from three to go with three boards.
• While Josiah Fulcher shot well from the three-point arc by going 3-for-5, he was only able to go 1-for-6 from inside the arc to finish with 11 points.
• Quentin Woodson also provided a spark off the Evangels bench, closing out with 11 points on 3-for-4 shooting to go 5-of-8 from the foul line.
• In limited shot attempts, Magok Manyang ended the day with eight points on a very effective 3-of-5 shooting, knocking down 2-for-4 from three to go with six boards and a pair of steals.
• By getting the win, the Evangels have now won three-straight games against the Stars after coming away with a 79-65 win inside Abe Lemons Arena last season.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will have one more non-conference road game before the Christmas break as the Evangels will head to Springfield, Missouri on Dec. 17 to take on Evangel for a 6 p.m. tip-off.