OKLAHOMA CITY – While it was a cold night outside, the shooting was blistering hot inside the Gaulke Activity Center on Monday night as the MACU Men's Basketball team cruised to a dominant 88-67 victory over No. 8 Langston.
 
TOP PERFORMERS

• Josiah Fulcher – 24 Points, 7-11 FG, 10-11 FT, 11 Reb, 2 Assists
• Juwan White – 22 Points, 8-13 FG, 5-6 3FG, 8 Assists, 4 Steals, 4 Reb
• Morris Williams – 16 Points, 5-6 FG, 4-5 3FG, 2-3 FT, 3 Assists, 2 Steals
• Tarrence Gaines – 10 Points, 4-8 FG, 7 Reb, 2 Assists, 2 Steals

GAME SUMMARY

• First Half
  • Mid-America Christian (14-5, 10-5 SAC) established itself through the first four minutes as the Evangels opened on an 8-5 run through the first four minutes on a pair of buckets from Magok Manyang and a Tarrence Gaines lay-in before Juwan White nailed a pair of free throws with 16:17 to go.
  • After a Kameron Brice three tied the game up at the 15:46 mark, the Evangels strung together a 13-4 run over the next four minutes as White buried a deep step-back three from the right wing to stretch the advantage to 21-12 with 11:13 left.
  • Langston (15-3, 11-3 SAC) chiseled away at the MACU advantage over the next six minutes, eventually cutting it to a one-possession game at 25-22 with 5:47 to go on Amoro Lado's three-ball.
  • The Evangels countered with a 10-3 surge of its own as Gaines buried a jumper before knocking down a triple from the top of the key with 3:15 left to stretch the MACU edge to double figures at 35-25.
  • The Lions cut the MACU lead down to four behind six-unanswered before Morris Williams eventually snapped the run with a shot clock beating three from the left corner to set the score to 38-31.
  • Kamron Brice long ball with 1:34 to go cut it back down to a four-point game, but Williams came up clutch again with a left corner three just before the halftime buzzer to send MACU into the break with the 41-34 advantage.
• Second Half
  • Mid-America Christian came out the locker room with all the momentum, scoring the first six with Josiah Fulcher converting an old-fashioned three-point play with 19:09 left to set the score to 47-34.
  • LU scored six of the next eight over the next three minutes to close it back to a single-digit game at 49-40 on a Brice three and a Mario McKinney foul shot with 16:43 remaining.
  • The Evangels swung back with a dominant 14-5 run following a Gaines layup and a pair of Fulcher buckets before Fulcher knocked down another floater, setting up White's run-ending three-ball from the left corner with 11:59 to go to give MACU a 63-45 edge.
  • Following a pair of Tim Ighoefe foul shots, the Evangels captured their largest lead on lay-ins from Fulcher and Williams before Magok Manyang drained a left-wing three with 10:03 left to make it a 70-49 MACU lead.
  • Langston started to close the gap behind seven unanswered points over the next few minutes before eventually cutting it to a 13-point game on a pair of Brice foul shots following a double technical foul to set the score to 74-61 with just over seven minutes to go.
  • A minute later, White broke the game back into MACU's favor with a sensational step-back three from the top of the key to spark a 12-3 Evangels streak with Gaines knocking down a free throw with 2:08 remaining to stretch the MACU advantage to 86-64.
  • Williams knocked down a pair of foul shots with 1:18 to following a Lado three to wrap-up the scoring at 88-67.

GAME NOTES

• Facing a Langston team that entered the night as the NAIA's top scoring defense (58.7 ppg) with the SAC's lowest defensive field goal percentage (40.1), Mid-America Christian put together the offensive showing for the ages as the Evangels shot 29-for-48 (60.4 percent) from the field and 11-for-19 (57.9 percent) from three-point range, both of which were season-highs for MACU. The Evangels also effectively knockeddown 19-of-25 (76.0 percent) from the free throw line.
• The 88 points the Evangels scored were by far and away any team had netted against the Lions' outstanding defense as Wayland Baptist getting a 71-63 win in Plainview, Texas on Nov. 14 was previously the most LU had given up in a game this year.
• Overall, MACU's defense contained Langston to only 18-for-49 (36.7 percent) shooting, going 10-of-29 (34.5 percent) from three while also knocking down 21-for-28 (75 percent) from the charity stripe.
• Mid-America Christian also dominated the glass, outrebounding the Lions by a 33-23 margin.
• The Evangels were able to completely control the painted area as MACU outscored the Lions 32-16 in the paint.
• Entering the contest as a balanced scoring team, it was a rare occasion where MACU had two players score more than 20 points. Josiah Fulcher led the Evangels for the contest with 24 points on 7-for-11 shooting, including a blistering 10-of-11 from the foul line while also ripping down 11 rebounds to lead MACU on the glass.
• Juwan White was MACU's other 20-plus point scorer as he narrowly missed a double-double. White packed the stat line with 22 points on 8-of-13 from the field, including 5-for-6 from downtown and dished out eight assists to go with four steals and four boards.
• Morris Williams provided a massive spark off the Evangels bench with 16 points, 12 of which came in the first half on 5-for-6 shooting, including 4-of-5 from three-point range and 2-for-3 from the line to go with three assists and two steals.
• Tarrence Gaines rounded out MACU's double-digit scorers with 10 points on 4-of-8 from the field while yanking down seven boards to go with a pair of assists and two steals.
• While facing off against another Bevo Francis Top 100 Watch List Player in Bryce Monroe, the Evangels held Langston's season-leading scorer to only three points on 0-for-5 shooting while going 3-of-4 from the free throw line.
• By getting the win, MACU snapped Langston's six-game win streak in the series while it is the largest margin of defeat for the Lions since Chris Wright became LU's head coach prior to the start of the 2022-23 season. The last time Langston lost by 20 or more points came on Feb. 19, 2022 when the Evangels came away with a 98-63 victory inside C.F. Gayles Field House.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will be back on its home court on Thursday night as its matchup against Southwestern Christian is being moved to the Gaulke Activity Center due to water damage in the Pickens-Springer Gymnasium. Tip-off will be slated for 8 p.m.