FORT WORTH, Texas – For the second time in four year, the MACU men's basketball team will be playing for the Sooner Athletic Conference title as the Evangels pulled away over the course of the second half for the 78-62 victory over sixth-seeded John Brown (Ark.) in the SAC Semifinal inside the Sid Richardson Center on Monday afternoon.
 
TOP PERFORMERS

• Magok Manyang – 20 Points, 5-9 FG, 3-7 3FG, 7-8 FT, 10 Reb, 2 Blocks
• Mikel Henderson – 20 Points, 7-12 FG, 4-7 3FG, 2-3 FT, 3 Assists, 3 Steals
• Eddie Smith – 9 Points, 3-7 FG, 2-2 FT
• Seth Hurd – 8 Points, 4-9 FG, 3 Reb

GAME SUMMARY

• First Half
  • Both teams struggled from the field in the early going as the only field goal through the first three minutes of the game was Mikel Henderson knocking down a right-wing three at the 18:28 mark to make it a 3-0 Mid-America Christian (23-7) lead.
  • The Evangels went through a four-minute cold spell as John Brown (16-13) went on a 7-0 run with all seven of the Golden Eagles points coming from the foul line before Eddie Smith finally snapped the spell with a crossover mid-range jumper with 14:03 left to cut it to 7-5.
  • JBU took its largest lead of the half on Malachi Reeves' three from the right wing with 13:32 left to go, but the Evangels caught fire from behind the arc, scoring a trio of three-pointers during a 13-2 run as Henderson's tough pressure near the mid-court stripe allowed him to poke it away and go in for the easy fast-break lay-in to set the Evangels' edge to 18-12.
  • Drew Miller's open left-handed layup on the ensuing possession only briefly halted MACU's powerful surge as the Evangels swung back by scoring nine of the next 11 from the three-point arc as Henderson drained a 25-footer from the right wing to give MACU its largest advantage of the half at 27-16 with 5:19 remaining.
  • The Golden Eagles went on a massive run over the next four minutes as JBU rattled off 12 of the next 14 points with Josh Stewart's fastbreak three off the MACU turnover closed it to a one-point game at 29-28.
  • The Evangels got a pair of buckets in the final minute from Quentin Woodson and Eddie Smith to extend the MACU lead back to five, but Reeves heaved a 35-foot three at the buzzer that rattled in to close it to 33-31 at the half.
• Second Half
  • Mid-America Christian came out strong right out of the gate as the Evangels opened with an 11-2 run with Magok Manyang scoring the first eight Evangels points before D'Angelo Adkins buried a three from the right wing to extend the MACU lead to 44-33 with just under 18 minutes left.
  • Both teams went blow-for-blow over the next five minutes with neither team making a run, but a tightly contested Drew Miller three on the kick-out allowed the Golden Eagles to trim it to a 52-44 deficit with 13:33 on the clock.
  • With just under 13 minutes to go, a Seth Hurd finish off a nifty Henderson drive and dish pushed the MACU lead back to double-digits before Eddie Smith knocked down a pair of foul shots with 12:25 left made it a 56-44 MACU edge.
  • MACU maintained a double-digit advantage over the next four minutes before a pair of Tyren Collins free throws finally closed it to 60-52 with eight minutes remaining, but Manyang once again carried the Evangels through the second half with a strong finish in the low block before drilling his third trifecta of the game from the left corner with 6:18 left make it a 65-52 game.
  • The Golden Eagles were unable to close the gap to less than 10 the rest of the way as MACU scored 11 of the final 16 points with Tarrence Gaines knocking down a free throw at the 16-second mark wrapped up MACU's 78-62 final.

GAME NOTES

• It was a tale of two halves for Mid-America Christian on the offensive end as some red-hot three-point shooting carried MACU in the first half while the Evangels did most of their work from in the paint and from the foul line in the second half. Overall, MACU finished the contest shooting 26-for-55 (47.3 percent), knocking down 11-of-26 (42.3 percent) from three and 15-for-20 (75 percent) from the free throw line.
• The Evangels defensively held John Brown to 21-for-52 (40.4 percent) from the field and 8-of-25 (32 percent) from the three-point arc while converting on an efficient 12-for-14 (85.7 percent) from the charity stripe.
• On the glass, MACU outrebounded the Golden Eagles 33-27 with an 11-7 edge on the offensive glass resulting in the Evangels dominating in second chance points, 18-6.
• MACU's feisty defense also forced JBU into committing 17 turnovers while the Evangels gave it away only 12 times.
• While the Evangels are normally a balanced team offensively, a bulk load of MACU's scoring came from junior forward Magok Manyang and senior guard Mikel Henderson. Manyang turned in his first 20-point game of the season, scoring his 20 points on 5-of-9 shooting, going 3-for-7 from downtown and 7-of-8 from the free throw line. Manyang also notched his second-straight double-double in the SAC Tournament with a game-high 10 boards to go with a pair of blocked shots.
• Henderson scored 13 of his 20 points in the first half, finishing the contest on 7-for-12 shooting, knocked down 4-of-7 from three-point range and converted 2-of-3 foul shots while dishing out a team-high three assists to go with three steals on the defensive end.
• After being held scoreless in just three minutes of action in the first half due to foul trouble, junior forward Seth Hurd made his presence felt in the second half by scoring eight points on 4-of-9 from the field to go with three boards.
• The SAC Sixth Man of the Year Eddie Smith provided a spark of the Evangels bench with nine points on 3-for-7 from the field and 2-of-2 from the line.
• By getting the win, MACU swept its third meeting against the Golden Eagles after defeating John Brown 70-54 inside the Gaulke Activity Center on Jan. 13 and pulling away late for the 84-79 victory inside Bill George Arena in Siloam Springs, Arkansas on Feb. 24.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will face-off against top-seeded and nationally second-ranked Langston in the Championship game at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday inside the Sid Richardson Center.