OKLAHOMA CITY – The MACU Men's Basketball team will be back inside the Gaulke Activity Center on Thursday night for its second of a four-game home stand to start the season as the Evangels host Ozark Christian for a 5 p.m. tip-off.
 
SEASON REPORT

• Record: 1-0
• Last Game: Won vs. Florida College – 88-67 – Oct. 25, 2025 – Gaulke Activity Center
• Stat Leaders:
  • Points: Morris Williams (16, 16.0 ppg), Taiden Conner (12, 12.0 ppg), Clay Baldwin (11, 11.0 ppg)
  • FG Percentage (%, M-A; Min 3 FGM): Clance Crosby (80.0, 4-5), Able Houston (80.0, 4-5), Morris Williams (60.0, 6-10)
  • 3FG Percentage (%, M-A; Min 1 3FGM): Morris Williams (75.0, 3-4), Taiden Conner (50.0, 1-2), Shannon Strickland (40.0, 2-5)
  • FT Percentage (%, M-A, Min 2 FTM): Demerius Shakur (100, 3-3), Three Tied (100, 2-2)
  • Rebounds: Taiden Conner (8, 8.0 rpg), Morris Williams (7, 7.0 rpg), Two Tied (6, 6.0 rpg)
  • Assists: Shannon Strickland (5, 5.0 apg), Three Tied (2, 2.0 apg)
  • Steals: Demerius Shakur (1, 1.0 spg), Clay Baldwin (1, 1.0 spg)
  • Blocks: Clance Crosby (2, 2.0 bpg), Three Tied (1, 1.0 bpg)
• Team Notes:
  • Mid-America Christian put together a strong showing in its 2025-26 season-opener inside the Gaulke Activity Center last Saturday as the Evangels came away with an 88-67 win over a strong Florida College program.
  • In the win, Morris Williams led four Evangels in double-figures scoring with 16 points while effectively shooting 60 percent from the field and doing most of his damage from the three-point arc after going 3-for-4 (75 percent) from range.
  • Taiden Conner provided a massive spark off the Evangels bench as he narrowly missed recording a double-double with 12 points on 3-of-5 shooting and went 5-for-6 from the free throw line and pulled down a team-high eight rebounds, six of which came on the offensive end.
  • The contest allowed MACU to go deep into their bench as 10 players played for 14-plus minutes while 13 saw action for the Evangels as a whole. Overall, 11 players wound up in the scoring column with nine scoring five or more points for some strong scoring balance.

SCOUTING REPORT
Ozark Christian (Mo.)

• 2024-25 Record: 20-8
• Last Game: Lost at Champion Christian (Ark.) – 87-77 – Feb. 28, 2025 – Hot Springs, Ark.
• Series vs MACU (2003-): MACU leads 11-0
• Last Game vs MACU: MACU won 84-49 – Nov. 2, 2024 – Gaulke Activity Center
• Series Streak: MACU won 11
• Players to Watch:
  • Blaine Salsman – JR – G
    • 2024-25 Stats: 213 Points (8.9 ppg), 69-166 FG (41.6%), 50-135 3FG (37.0%), 25-32 FT (78.1%), 45 Reb (1.9 rpg)
  • Eric Dillinger – SR – F
    • 2024-25 Stats: 211 Points (7.0 ppg), 87-184 FG (47.3%), 15-58 3FG (25.9%), 22-39 FT (56.4%), 102 Reb (3.4 rpg), 31 Assists (1.0 apg), 31 Blocks (1.0 bpg)
• Team Notes:
  • Ozark Christian is coming off a 2024-25 campaign where the Ambassors posted a 20-9 overall record before falling to Champion Christian in the NCCAA D-II Southwest Regional Championship.
  • The Ambassadors, who were one of the top scoring teams at the NCCAA D-II level last year, averaging the third-most points at 83.9 ppg may need to do some early season soul searching after losing the team's top three scorers from a season ago, headline by the NCCAA D-II Player of the Year in Andre Johnson.
  • The top returning scorers for OCC this season are junior guard Blaine Salsman and senior forward Eric Dillinger. Last season, Salsman was the squad's top three-point shooting, going 50-for-135 (37 percent) from downtown while Dillinger was an effective scorer from inside the paint while also being a strong shot blocking presence with a team-high 31 rejections.
  • Mid-America Christian has dominated the all-time series since the 2003 campaign by winning all 11 meetings with the two sides about to play each other for the fifth-straight year. In their last meeting inside the Gaulke on Nov. 2, 2024, the Evangels cruised to an 84-49 victory as Marque Wilkerson led MACU off the bench with 20 points and eight rebounds while Juwan White finished with 18 points and five boards.