OKLAHOMA CITY – No. 22 MACU Women's basketball team had an explosive second half outscoring John Brown 43-27 over the final 20 minutes to capture a 71-60 victory inside the Gaulke Activity Center Thursday night.

TOP PERFORMERS

• Kylee Scheer – 18 Points, 6-13 FG, 2-3 3FG, 7 Reb, 4 ast, 2 stl
• Shy Christopher – 16 Points, 7-13 FG, 3 reb
• Syncere Harrod – 12 Points, 3-9 FG, 5 reb, 3 stl
• Talayah Thomas – 6 Points, 3-7 FG, 7 reb, 5 ast

GAME SUMMARY

• First Quarter
  • Eight of the first ten points went Mid-America Christian's (19-3, 15-3 SAC) way with Talayah Thomas spotting a backdoor cut by Syncere Harrod for an easy lay-in to provide an 8-2 lead through the first 4:10.
  • John Brown (11-10, 9-8 SAC) did a good job holding the Evangel offense scoreless for the next three and a half minutes but only scored five of their own in the process as a layup by Sarah Snodgrass cut it to 8-7 MACU with 5:32 remaining.
  • The Evangels closed out the quarter with an 8-3 advantage with Kylee Scheer finishing the quarter with a lefty lay off the glass with a few seconds remaining to provide MACU with a 16-10 advantage.
• Second Quarter
  • The Golden Eagles knotted it at 16-16 on back-to-back triples to start the quarter, Savage then had an easy lay on Mia Smith's dime to give MACU a temporary lead, however Graci Harris knocked down a pair from the charity stripe to tie it back up at 18-18 with 7:27 to go.
  • JBU scored eight of the next 12 including a pair of three-balls from Erin Merkel and Briley Burns to capture a 26-22 lead with 3:38 left in the half.
  • The Evangels followed up by scoring six of eight to tie it up at 28 on a Shy Christopher layup with 1:13 left, but the Golden Eagles would strike for five more including a buzzer-beater jumper from the free throw line by Abbey Sanders to give JBU a 33-28 lead entering the halftime break.
• Third Quarter
  • After both teams had 2 points through the first 2:20, MACU ignited a 7-2 surge capped off on a steal by Syncere Harrod that allowed her to later get fouled and go to the line, where she connected on one of two to tie it up at 37-37 with 5:18 to play.
  • MACU scored seven of the next 10 including five unanswered by Scheer, she drained a three from the left elbow giving MACU a 44-40 lead with 1:15 left.
  • John Brown scored five unanswered behind a pair of free throws from Merkel and a triple from Sanders to take a 45-44 lead, but Scheer recaptured the lead on a buzzer-beater floater giving the Evangels a slight 46-45 edge entering the last frame.
• Fourth Quarter
  • Scheer had the first two buckets in the quarter picking up her 12^th straight point for the Evangels and Christopher added on a pair of buckets to bring the MACU lead up to 55-48 and a 9-3 advantage in the quarter with 7:17 to go.
  • The next three and a half minutes saw both teams exchanging buckets with a slight 6-5 edge in favor of the Evangels, with Harrod extending the lead to 61-53 on a pair of free throws with 3:44 left.
  • JBU brought it to a six-point game twice in the last 3:44, however a Thomas layup and a corner three by Hailey Tunnell allowed MACU to boost its lead to double-digits for the first time up 69-58 with 1:08 remaining. Scheer would add on two more from the free throw line and Snodgrass knocked in a layup for JBU, but it was far too late, and the Evangels won by a final of 71-60.

 
GAME NOTES

• Mid-America Christian shot 26-of-58 (44.8 percent) while holding John Brown to 18-of-52 (34.6 percent.) The Evangels dominated inside the point with a 46-18 advantage as well as a plus-ten in boards with a 38-28 margin.
• John Brown put up a strong second quarter that included five threes allowing the Golden Eagles to outscore MACU 23-12 in the process to take a 33-28 lead into the halftime break, however the Evangels outscored them 43-27 the rest of the way to run away with a 71-60 victory.
• Kylee Scheer led MACU in scoring for the third consecutive game, out of her 18 points scored, 12 of them were consecutive in the late run to end the third and start the fourth, which was a big factor in the win. Scheer also tacked on seven boards and four assists.
• Shy Christopher turned in a productive night, finishing with 16 points on 7-13 from the floor.
• Syncere Harrod finished with 12 points and five rebounds, she did the heavy lifting at the charity stripe, going 6-for-8 at the line.
• It was another all-around great game for Talayah Thomas, she connected for six points on 3-of-7 shooting with seven boards, seven boards ranked the second most in a game aside from her 10-rebound performance in the 55-53 win at Texas Wesleyan on Jan. 4^th. Thomas also led the contest with assists with five.
• Hailey Tunnell only attempted one three in the game, however it may have just been the most important as it ultimately ended up being the dagger, the corner-three by Tunnell brought the Evangels lead to 11 with just 1:08 to play.
• It was a season high in points for Sydney Savage, she ended the night with eight points on 4-of-7 from the field. Savage added three rebounds and a block to her name as well.
• With the victory tonight the Evangels complete the regular season sweep over John Brown, oddly enough both victories were almost identical scores, with the Evangels winning game one 71-62.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will head to Point Lookout, Missouri to take on SAC opponent College of the Ozarks inside the Keeter Gymnasium with a tip-off set for 2 p.m.