OKLAHOMA CITY – Facing a red-hot Oklahoma City squad, the MACU men's basketball team put together a ferocious defensive effort inside the Gaulke Activity Center on Thursday night as the Evangels defeated the Stars 69-63 to lock up the No. 2 seed in the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament next week.
 
TOP PERFORMERS

• Eddie Smith – 17 Points, 5-10 FG, 2-3 3FG, 5-6 FT, 4 Reb, 3 Assists
• Jasiah Lewis – 14 Points, 5-9 FG, 4-4 FT, 3 Assists
• DeAngelo Adkins – 11 Points, 5-10 FG, 5 Reb, 2 Blocks, 2 Steals

GAME SUMMARY

• First Half
  • Oklahoma City (9-18, 7-14 SAC) was able to contain Mid-America Christian (20-7, 16-5 SAC) over the first six minutes as the Stars jumped out to an 11-5 lead on a pair of Yorgio Golesis free throws with 13:48 to go.
  • On the ensuing possession, Eddie Smith knocked down a deep left-side three on Quentin Woodson's screen handoff before Seth Hurd finished off the and-one at the 11:08 mark to close the gap to 12-11.
  • The Stars kept MACU quiet over the next three minutes as OCU pushed its lead back out to 18-11 on Clayton Jewell's offensive board and tip-in with 8:50 left.
  • The Evangels managed to clamp down on the defensive end over a three-minute stretch themselves as MACU strung together eight-unanswered with Tarrence Gaines getting the steal and the fastbreak lay-in with 6:32 remaining to give MACU its first lead of the game at 19-18.
  • A Jack McWilliams tip-in off the offensive glass briefly put the Stars back in-front, but MACU quickly reclaimed the advantage by scoring seven of the next nine with DeAngelo Adkins burying a jab-step three from the right wing to make it a 26-22 game with 3:45 left.
  • OCU's Brandon Jackson came up with an immediate response on the ensuing possession as his three brought it back to a one-point game, but both teams played lock down defense over the final 3:25 as the only score the rest of the way came on a pair of Mikel Henderson free throws after Brandon Jackson was issued a technical foul with 11 seconds left, sending MACU into the half with the 28-25 edge.
• Second Half
  • Both teams went blow-for-blow through the first three-and-a-half minutes of the second half as two Jasiah Lewis foul shots with 16:28 remaining pushed MACU's lead to 36-31.
  • OCU's Brandon Jackson caught fire over the next few minutes, scoring eight OCU's nine points during a 9-3 run as his deep left-wing three with 13:35 left gave the Stars a 40-39 lead, their first advantage since the 5:03 mark in the first half.
  • The lead exchanged hands six times over the next three minutes as Smith drained a right corner three off a second chance with just over 10 minutes left before Seth Hurd muscled in a layup with 8:48 on the clock to extend the MACU lead to 50-46.
  • OCU chiseled away at the MACU edge over the next three minutes, holding the Evangels to just three points over the stretch as OCU recaptured a 54-53 lead on a pair of McWilliams free throws with 5:52 to go.
  • While back-to-back midrange Lewis jumpers briefly gave MACU a 57-54 advantage back with 4:44 left, the Stars answered by scoring six of the next eight as two more McWilliams throws with 3:51 remaining put OCU into the 60-59 lead.
  • The next two minutes were key for the Evangels as Henderson's shot clock beating layup at the 3:25 mark started a 6-0 MACU surge as Quentin Woodson's foul shot with 1:59 to go made it a 65-60 game.
  • After OCU's Avery Jackson nailed a jumper to pull it back to a three-point game, it was a defensive slugfest down the stretch as MACU came up with its biggest defensive stop with just over 10 seconds left with Gaines pulling down a defensive board with 10.7 seconds left before MACU called a timeout.
  • After getting fouled twice in the final 10 seconds, Smith put the game away from the free throw line, converting on all four of his free throw attempts as MACU came away with the 69-63 victory.

GAME NOTES

• As a team, Mid-America Christian shot 25-for-67 (37.3 percent) from the field and just 4-of-14 (28.6 percent) from the three-point arc, but turned in a 15-for-21 (71.4 percent) day from the foul stripe.
• Oklahoma City wrapped up the game by shooting 20-of-54 (37 percent) from the field and 6-for-21 (28.6 percent) from three while going 17-of-23 (73.9 percent) from the free throw line.
• In the contest with relatively even shooting percentages, the biggest difference in the game came in MACU's ball security as the Evangels committed half as many as the Stars with 11 giveaways while forcing OCU into 22 turnovers, bringing the scoring differential off turnovers to 19-8.
• While Oklahoma City held a 46-40 lead in the rebounding department, the Evangels actually held a slim 18-17 edge in the offensive glass, leading MACU to outscore OCU 20-11 in second chance points.
• After being held in-check over the last five games, senior guard Eddie Smith put together a big game against his former team as the former Stars player led the Evangels with 17 points on 5-of-10 shooting, going 2-for-3 from the three-point arc and 5-of-6 from the stripe.
• Overall, four Evangels finished in double-figures with Jasiah Lewis (14), Seth Hurd (12) and DeAngelo Adkins (11) also joining Smith in double-digits while Mikel Henderson just missing double-digits with nine points.
• Tarrence Gaines led the Evangels on the glass with eight rebounds as well as tallied three blocked shots and two steals in his first start of the season.
• With the victory, Mid-America Christian swept the season series from Oklahoma City after defeating OCU 79-65 inside Abe Lemons Arena on Jan. 11.
• The win also solidified MACU's No. 2 spot in the SAC Tournament next week as the Evangels own a 16-5 league mark heading into the season finale, holding a one-game lead over both No. 25 Southwestern Assemblies of God and Wayland Baptist. MACU owns the tiebreaker over both the Lions and the Pioneers if the Evangels lose their finale at John Brown.
• The Evangels notched their seventh 20-plus win season in the last 10 years dating back to their Sooner Athletic Conference Championship 2014-15 campaign.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will conclude the regular season on the road on Saturday as the Evangels will head to Siloam Springs, Arkansas for a 3:45 p.m. tip-off against John Brown inside Bill George Arena.