DALLAS – The MACU Men's Basketball started out the second half of Sooner Athletic Conference play on a strong note as the Evangels were able keep a late UNT Dallas rally at bay to come away with the 69-65 victory inside the Ellis Davis Field House on Thursday night.
 
TOP PERFORMERS

• Juwan White – 21 Points, 8-12 FG, 4-4 FT, 4 Reb, 2 Assists, 2 Steals
• Josiah Fulcher – 13 Points, 5-14 FG, 2-2 FT, 4 Reb, 2 Assists
• Keeshawn Mason – 13 Points, 5-9 FG, 3-5 FT, 4 Reb
• Quentin Woodson – 7 Points, 3-5 FG, 8 Reb

GAME SUMMARY

• First Half
  • After Josiah Fulcher scored the opening bucket of the contest at the 18:49 mark, UNT Dallas (7-10, 4-10 SAC) seized the momentum by scoring six unanswered on layups from Darian Jones and Greg Crawford before Daniel Sohn's score made it 6-2 with 16:24 to go.
  • The two squads went blow-for-blow over the next five minutes before the Trailblazers grabbed their largest lead of the game at 17-11 on an Ashton Howard's three from the top of the key with 11:08 to go.
  • Both teams went through a scoreless three-minutes stretch before Mid-America Christian (12-5, 8-5 SAC) found its stride on a Juwan White left side drive and scoop layup with 7:51 remaining. The play jumpstarted an eight-unanswered run that White finished off with a wide-open three from straight on to give MACU the 19-17 advantage at the 5:16 mark.
  • After being held without a point for just over five minutes, UNTD finally got back on the board with Crawford going 1-for-2 at the line with 4:56 on the clock before Josiah Fulcher flushed down the dunk on the backdoor cut from Tarrence Gaines pass to make it a 21-18 Evangels edge with 4:47 left.
  • While the Trailblazers managed to tie that game up at 21-all on Crawford's foul shot with just over three minutes remaining, Mid-America Christian closed out the half strong as White's floater with about two minutes left sparked a 9-1 Evangels run capped off on Zander Baker's corner three at the buzzer to send MACU into the break with the 30-22 advantage.
• Second Half
  • MACU briefly extended its lead to double-digits on a pair of Gaines foul shots at the 19:12 mark before UNT Dallas eventually trimmed it to a two-point game on a Darian Jones layup with 12:48 remaining to cap off a 7-1 Trailblazers run.
  • Following White's lay-in with 12:48 to go to extend the MACU edge back to four, scoring came at a premium for the Evangels over the four minutes as UNTD tied it at 40-all on Jones' tip-in with 11:07 left and drew it even again at 42-42 on a pair of Jones foul shots with 9:04 left.
  • On the ensuing possession, Keeshawn Mason put the Evangels up for good with a spin move on the left block and lay-in with 8:50 remaining, which fired off a nine-unanswered run over the next two minutes. MACU did most of its damage from the foul line during the stretch, going 5-for-6 with Fulcher's tosses with seven minutes remaining making it a 71-62 MACU edge.
  • With the Evangels maintaining a three-possession lead, the Trailblazers eventually worked it down to a five-point edge on a trio of Crawford free throws with four-and-a-half minutes left, but MACU once again surged back by scoring seven of the next nine points to reclaim a double-digit lead on Fulcher's drive and floater in the paint making it 62-52 with 2:03 on the clock.
  • With under a minute left, back-to-back Sohn long balls managed to cut it down to a four-point game, but White all but put the game away from the free throw line while Gaines also went 1-for-2 from the stripe in the waning moments.
  • UNTD's Sergio McClain buried a deep left side three at the buzzer that proved to be a moot point as the Evangels had the victory in-hand by a score of 69-65.

GAME NOTES

• Mid-America Christian was able to overcome a tough shooting night from distance as the Evangels went 4-for-16 (25 percent) from three by going 24-of-55 (43.6 percent) overall from the floor and knocked down 17-for-26 (65.4 percent from the charity stripe.
• UNT Dallas only managed to shoot a slightly lower clip from the floor at 21-for-51 (41.2 percent) while hitting on a more efficient 8-of-20 (40 percent) from three, but also struggled at the line by converting just 15-for-25 (60 percent).
• Even though UNT Dallas managed to win the battle in the paint, out-rebounding the Evangels 35-32, MACU was able to win the turnover battle by forcing 18 UNTD turnovers while committing just 14, leading to a decisive 15-11 edge in points off takeaways.
• After entering the contest on a bit of a cold spell, shooting above 40 percent just once in the last six games, senior guard Juwan White found his stride, leading the MACU offensive efforts with a MACU career-high 21 points on 8-for-12 shooting while hitting on 4-of-4 from the line while also producing a solid floor game with four rebounds, a pair of assists and two steals.
• Keeshawn Mason also produced a solid shooting night with his 13 points coming off 5-for-9 from the field and went 3-of-5 from the stripe to go with four boards.
• Josiah Fulcher was the only other Evangel to crack into double-figures as his 13 points came off of a 5-of-14 shooting night as he also notched four boards and two dimes.
• Quentin Woodson narrowly missed a double-double coming off of the Evangels bench as he notched seven points 3-for-5 from the floor to go with a team-high eight rebounds.
• With the victory, MACU has swept the season series from UNT Dallas four the fourth-straight year while improving to 9-0 since first playing the Trailblazers on Jan. 3, 2022.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will now brace itself for another huge SAC home contest as the Evangels host league co-leader Nelson on Saturday for a 4 p.m. tip-off inside the Gaulke Activity Center.