WAXAHACHIE, Texas – The MACU men's basketball team earned its third NAIA Top 25 victory of the season on Thursday night inside the Sheaffer Center as the Evangels put together a stellar defensive effort in a 74-67 road victory at No. 25 Southwestern Assemblies of God.
 
TOP PERFORMERS

• Mikel Henderson – 18 Points, 5-8 FG, 4-6 3FG, 4-4 FT, 3 Reb, 3 Assists
• Seth Hurd – 13 Points, 6-10 FG, 5 Reb
• Quentin Woodson – 11 Points, 5-7 FG, 5 Reb
• Conner Calavan – 10 Points, 3-8 FG, 3-7 3FG, 2 Reb

GAME SUMMARY

• First Half
  • Mid-America Christian (17-7, 13-5 SAC) jumped out to a quick start as a Seth Hurd hook shot and a Conner Calavan three in the first minute pushed MACU out to a 5-0 advantage.
  • After SAGU's CJ Hall and Conner Calavan traded free throws, Southwestern Assemblies of God (17-8, 13-6 SAC) scored the next four as Alerick Hall's ball fake and midrange jumper gave the Lions their first lead of the game at 7-6 with 16:42 left.
  • The two teams battled back-and-forth over the next six minutes, but the Lions managed to hold the Evangels to without a point over a four-minute stretch approaching the midway point as a seven-unanswered SAGU run allowed the Lions to take an 18-13 lead on Noah Boling's three-pointer with 10:41 remaining.
  • Mikel Henderson's fade away left corner three at the 10:26 mark jumpstarted the MACU offense as the Evangels scored seven-unanswered to take back a 20-18 lead with 9:26 to go on Hurd's hoop-and-harm on the low block.
  • The Evangels went cold over another four-minute stretch, allowing SAGU to go on a 5-0 run to take back a 23-20 edge on Kylon Owens layup in the right block at the 7:26 mark.
  • With 3:30 left, Jasiah Lewis jumpstarted the MACU offense with a pullup jumper from the right elbow as the Evangels scored 11 of the next 13 points to capture a 33-27 advantage on a pair of DeAngelo Adkins free throws with 1:12 remaining.
  • A Cortland Blake three-point play with 30 seconds left cut the MACU lead in-half, but Henderson made an incredible play just before the end of the half by getting the steal and throwing up a half-court shot that rattled in at the buzzer to send the Evangels into the break with the 36-30 advantage.
• Second Half
  • MACU maintained a six-to-eight-point advantage through the first two-and-a-half minutes as Zalek Sharp's foul shots with 17:39 left made it a 42-34 game.
  • Southwestern Assemblies chiseled away at the Evangels' edge over the next two minutes as six-straight Lions points brought it to 42-40 on JJ Boling's jumper with 15:08 remaining.
  • With both teams struggling to score approaching the midway point, Calavan's three-point bomb from the top of the key followed by Quentin Woodson's spin move and lay-in at the 10:19 mark extended the MACU advantage to 54-46, prompting a SAGU timeout.
  • A few minutes later, the Evangels managed to stretch their lead to double-digits for the first time when Woodson got another tough bucket to go on the left-handed lay-in before Zalek Sharp knocked down a huge three from the left corner to make it a 62-50 game with 6:51 to go.
  • SAGU chipped away at the MACU lead over the next five minutes, eventually knocking it down to six at 67-61 on CJ Hall's three-point play with 1:40 left.
  • The Evangels defense came up with some massive defensive stops down the stretch and converted on enough free throws to keep the Lions at bay as MACU held on for the 74-67 road win.

GAME NOTES

• Mid-America Christian shot a highly efficient 25-for-50 (50 percent) from the field and 9-of-22 (40.9 percent) from three-point range while going 15-for-23 (65.2 percent) from the free throw line.
• While Southwestern Assemblies of God managed to shoot 27-of-66 (40.9 percent) from the field, the Evangels frustrated the Lions from beyond the arc, shooting a season-worst 3-for-26 (11.5 percent) while being held to their second-lowest point total of the season.
• The Evangels managed to control the glass, outrebounding the Lions 36-30 while SAGU controlled the turnover battle, forcing 17 MACU turnovers while committing just eight.
• For the second time, MACU's ability to shut down the rest of SAGU's team besides its stars, CJ Hall and Cortland Blake played a major factor. Aside from Hall (29 points) and Blake (16 points), the rest of the Lions finished with 22 total points.
• Despite being without their leading scorer Eddie Smith, Mikel Henderson led four Evangels in double-figures with 18 points on 5-of-8 shooting, going 4-for-6 from three-point range and 4-of-4 from the foul line while also tallying three assists.
• Seth Hurd continued to be his efficient self, scoring 13 points on 6-of-10 from the field to go with five boards while another big in Quentin Woodson tallied 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting to go with five rebounds as well.
• Conner Calavan rounded out MACU's double-digit scorers with 10 point on 3-of-7 shooting from three.
• DeAngelo Adkins and Magok Manyang led MACU's rebounding efforts with six rebounds apiece while Jasiah Lewis led the distribution efforts with six assists to go with six points and four boards. By also getting his 33^rd block of the season, Manyang also joined Ashford Golden (2019-20) in MACU's NAIA Era (2007-present) record book for the fifth-most blocked shots in a single season.
• With the victory, MACU became the only team in Sooner Athletic Conference play so far to sweep a season series from SAGU after defeating the Lions 78-68 inside the Gaulke Activity Center on Jan. 18.
• The win on-top of a Wayland Baptist loss at No. 2 Langston on Thursday night allowed the Evangels to climb back into second in the Sooner Athletic Conference standings at 13-5, sitting a half-game ahead of the Pioneers, Science & Arts and SAGU with four games left in the league season.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will return home on Saturday for its Senior Day game as the Evangels will host UNT Dallas for a 3:45 p.m. tip-off inside the Gaulke Activity Center. The Senior Day ceremony for MACU's nine seniors will be held after the conclusion of the women's game.