OKLAHOMA CITY – The MACU Men's Basketball team completely frustrated Sooner Athletic Conference leader Nelson inside the Gaulke Activity Center on Saturday afternoon as the Evangels held the Lions to a season low in scoring in a dominant 70-52 victory over the Lions.
 
TOP PERFORMERS

• Tarrence Gaines – 14 Points, 5-9 FG, 4-5 3FG, 3 Reb, 2 Assists, 2 Blocks
• Josiah Fulcher – 13 Points, 6-16 FG, 7 Reb, 3 Assists
• Magok Manyang – 12 Points, 4-10 FG, 2-5 3FG, 2-2 FT, 4 Reb
• Juwan White – 10 Points, 4-11 FG, 2-2 FT, 8 Assists, 5 Reb, 2 Steals

GAME SUMMARY

• First Half
  • Mid-America Christian (13-5, 9-5 SAC) got off to an electric start offensively as a pair of Tarrence Gaines three-pointers and a Keeshawn Mason lay-in gave the Evangels an 8-0 advantage at the 17:49 mark.
  • After Nelson (13-6, 11-4 SAC) finally got on the board by scoring four of the next seven, MACU swung back with an 11-unanswered streak started on Mason's layup with 14:37 left before Morris Williams capped it with a left corner three with 12:06 to go to make it a 22-4 Evangels edge.
  • The Evangels continued to build to their advantage over the next seven minutes, outscoring the Lions 16-9 to grab a 38-13 with 5:51 to go on Quentin Woodson's muscle in layup.
  • After a cold spell for both teams over the next two minutes, Nelson's Trace Boling buried a three with just under three minutes left, but MACU captured its largest advantage of the game on a Williams bucket and a Josiah Fulcher layup with 1:22 remaining, setting the score to 42-16.
  • Nelson did get a couple of scores from Justin Collins in the final minute to close the gap to 42-22 at the halftime break.
• Second Half
  • The Evangels were stone cold through the first three minutes as Nelson's run carried over, scoring the first seven points with CJ Hall burying a midrange jumper with 17:15 to go to trim the MACU edge to 42-27.
  • The MACU defense settled back down over the next few minutes as the Evangels scored six of the next eight to push the advantage back to 48-29 at the 13:18 mark on Quentin Woodson's bucket.
  • On the ensuing possession, a Trace Boling triple jumpstarted a string of 10 straight for Nelson, cutting it to a single-digit 48-39 deficit on Collins lay-in with 10:23 left.
  • Over the next five minutes, MACU got back on-track following White's scoop shot layup with 9:54 remaining as the Evangels went on an 11-5 run capped off on Mason lay-in with 6:22 to go to make it a 59-44 game.
  • The Lions put together one last surge, scoring seven of the next nine to close it to 61-51 on JJ Boling's three-ball with 4:48 left.
  • The Evangels defense was downright stifling the rest of the way as MACU held the Lions to without a field goal over the final 4:47 as the 9-1 MACU run was finished on Fulcher's strong take with 1:41 left to ultimately seal the 70-52 victory.

GAME NOTES

• Facing off against a solid Nelson defense, Mid-America Christian managed to out-shoot the Lions by going 29-for-69 (42.0 percent) from the field, 8-of-24 (33.3 percent) from three while the Lions finished just 21-of-61 (34.4 percent) and 7-for-30 (23.3 percent).
• Both teams did a strong job of keeping the opposition from the free throw line as the Evangels shot their fewest free throw attempts of the season by going 4-for-5 (80 percent) while Nelson also shot a season-low 3-of-5 (60 percent) from the stripe.
• MACU managed to control the glass by out-rebounding the Lions 43-36 with a 14-9 edge on the offensive glass, holding a commanding 18-7 advantage over Nelson in second chance points.
• The Evangels also did a great job of taking care of the basketball, committing their second-fewest turnovers in a game at nine to 13 giveaways by the Lions, allowing MACU to claim a 14-10 edge in points off turnovers.
• Tarrence Gaines led a balanced scoring effort for MACU with four players breaking double-figures, netting 14 points on 5-for-9 shooting, including going 4-of-5 from three-point range to go with three boards and two assists with a pair of blocked shots.
• Josiah Fulcher pitched in 13 points on 6-of-16 from the floor and yanked down seven boards while dishing out three dimes.
• Magok Manyang recorded his fifth double-figure scoring game in the last six with a bounce-back performance from UNT Dallas on Thursday, netting 12 points on 4-of-10 shooting, going 2-for-5 from three and pulled down four rebounds.
• The play of senior point guard Juwan White was sensational. While he scored 10 points on 4-of-11 from the floor, he was able to dish out eight assists to no turnovers to go with five boards and a pair of steals that led to fastbreak points.
• Keeshawn Mason narrowly missed a double-double with eight points on 4-for-9 from the field and yanked down a game-high eight rebounds.
• Facing off against the SAC's leading scorer in CJ Hall, MACU defensively was able to completely frustrate the star guard, holding him to his second-lowest scoring output of the season with eight points on 4-for-17 shooting and 0-of-7 from behind the arc.
• It was by far-and-away Nelson's worst offensive performance of the season as the 52-point outing was the only time the Lions scored less than 63 points in a contest this season.
• With the win, MACU split the season series with Nelson after the Lions got the 73-66 win inside the Sheaffer Center back on Jan. 18.
• The victory along with a Langston win over OPSU on Saturday knocked the Lions out of first place in the SAC standings.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will once again take on the SAC leader on Monday as the Evangels host No. 8 Langston for an 8 p.m. tip-off inside the Gaulke. The Evangels will celebrate Faculty & Staff Appreciation Night.