MCPHERSON, Kan. – Entering its final week of Sooner Athletic Conference play, the MACU men's basketball team picked up a pivotal 85-78 road win inside Jerry Alexander Arena on Monday night as the Evangels staved off a late Central Christian rally.
 
TOP PERFORMERS

• Seth Hurd – 17 Points, 6-11 FG, 5-6 FT, 4 Reb
• Mikel Henderson – 17 Points, 6-12 FG, 2-4 3FG, 3-5 FT, 4 Reb
• Magok Manyang – 11 Points, 2-7 FG, 1-3 3FG, 6-8 FT, 7 Reb, 2 Assists, 2 Steals
• Jasiah Lewis – 10 Points, 4-7 FG, 5 Assists, 2 Reb

GAME SUMMARY

• First Half
  • The first seven minutes were a back-and-forth battle as neither team was able to get larger than a three-point lead until Mikel Henderson hit a running floater in the paint with 12:49 to go, jumpstarting a five-unanswered Mid-America Christian (19-7, 15-5 SAC) with Quentin Woodson finishing off the three-point play at the 12:18 mark to make it a 17-11 MACU lead.
  • Back-to-back Central Christian (12-14, 9-11 SAC) buckets brought it back to a one-possession game, but Henderson buried a 25-foot three from the right wing off Tarrence Gaines' offensive board and kickout, igniting a 7-1 Evangels surge as Gaines rattled in a fallaway midrange jumper with 8:19 left to set the score to 24-16.
  • The Tigers made another strong push to close it back to a two-point game at 25-23 with 6:10 remaining on Jevarrick Butler's two-handed flush, but MACU immediately countered with a 12-4 run over the next five minutes as Henderson hit another midrange floater from the right side to give the Evangels their first double-digit lead of the night at 37-27 with 1:21 on the clock.
  • The only scoring over the final 80 seconds was a pair of Jaeden Whitten foul shots as MACU took the 37-29 lead into the halftime break.
• Second Half
  • Seth Hurd took over the first minute-and-a-half as he knocked down a field goal and buried four foul shots to extend the MACU advantage to 43-29 at the 18:39 mark.
  • After Omari Maulana buried a three for CCCK's first points of the second half, the Evangels rattled off six-straight on buckets by Jasiah Lewis and DeAngelo Adkins before Manyang's fastbreak lay-in with 16:14 left gave MACU its largest lead of the contest at 49-32.
  • Over the next five minutes, Central Christian found its offensive stride, stringing together a 18-6 run with Chris Whitten's bucket closing it to a 55-50 game with 11:01 to go.
  • Lewis finally got the Evangels back on-track by burying a right-wing three on Eddie Smith's drive-and-dish, jumpstarting an 11-3 surge capped off on Manyang's left corner triple on another Smith kickout to extend the MACU advantage back to 66-53 at the 8:53 mark.
  • While the Tigers were briefly able to knock six points off the Evangels' edge, Hurd's hoop-and-harm with 6:45 left fired up another 7-0 MACU surge as a pair of Woodson free throws made it a 73-59 game with just over six minutes remaining.
  • Following Woodson's bucket a minute later to make it 75-61, Central Christian started making their move as the Tigers caught fire by scoring 13 of the next 17 points to close it to a 79-74 game on Jackson Hodge's left-side lay-in with 1:28 on the clock.
  • On the ensuing possession, the Evangels were able to run nearly the entire shot clock down before Henderson drove down the left side and scooped in a huge answer with 56 seconds left to extend the MACU lead back to seven.
  • The Tigers did manage to make it a four-point game at 82-78 on Chris Whitten's tough finish with 27 seconds left, but the Evangels put the game away from the free throw line while coming up with two huge defensive stops down the stretch to seal the 85-78 final.

GAME NOTES

• Mid-America Christian shot very well from the field, going 28-for-57 (49.1 percent) and buried 6-of-16 (37.5 percent) from three while putting together a very solid 23-for-30 (76.7 percent) performance from the free throw line.
• Central Christian also shot a very strong 25-of-51 (49 percent) from the floor and 8-of-22 (36.4 percent) from three, but the Evangels held a three-point edge from the charity stripe as the Tigers went 28-of-28 (71.4 percent) from the line.
• In a game where both teams were capitalizing on offense, the Evangels ability to control the glass was paramount as MACU outrebounded the Tigers 38-24 with a massive 11-2 edge on the offensive glass, allowing the Evangels a 12-2 edge in second-chance points.
• Overall, MACU put together a very balanced offensive attack with six players scoring nine or more points, led by Mikel Henderson (17) and Seth Hurd (17), who both shot 50 percent or better from the field.
• Magok Manyang led the Evangels on the glass with seven boards and was one of for MACU players to finish in double-digits with 11 points.
• Jasiah Lewis put together a stellar floor game for MACU, not only scoring 10 points but finished with a team-high five assists to go with no turnovers.
• Tarrence Gaines and Quentin Woodson provided a strong spark off MACU's bench with nine points apiece.
• By getting the victory, Mid-America Christian swept the season-series from Central Christian after the Evangels survived a 76-75 nail-biter inside the Gaulke Activity Center on Jan. 6.
• The win also proved huge for Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament implications as the Evangels are now just a win away from locking up one of the top four seeds in the tourney and hosting a quarterfinal game on Thursday, Feb. 29.
• By improving to 15-5 against league competition, the Evangels notched their second-most wins ever in SAC play, sitting only behind the 2019-20 SAC Championship squad that went 19-1 against conference foes.

UP NEXT

• MACU will have the opportunity to lock up one of those top four spots on Thursday as the Evangels will host Oklahoma City in their final regular season home game of the season. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:45 p.m. inside the Gaulke Activity Center.