HESSTON, Kan. – The MACU Men's Basketball team had to overcome a late seven-point deficit against a red-hot shooting Hesston team from the outside as the Evangels forced overtime and outscored the Larks 9-3 in the extra-session to escape with the 87-81 win inside the Yost Center on Monday night.
 
SCORE

• Mid-America Christian 87, Hesston 81 (OT)
  • Mid-America Christian (5-0)
  • Hesston (0-11)

TOP PERFORMERS

• Morris Williams – 22 Points, 6-15 FG, 10-10 FT, 11 Reb, 2 Steals
• Zander Baker – 14 Points, 3-5 FG, 7-10 FT, 3 Steals, 2 Assists
• Clance Crosby – 13 Points, 4-8 FG, 5-7 FT, 9 Reb, 2 Steals
• Clay Baldwin – 11 Points, 4-11 FG, 3-5 FT, 6 Reb, 3 Assists

GAME SUMMARY

• First Half
  • After giving up the opening three-point basket on Hesston's second possession of the game with Antonio Odum's trey from the left wing with 19:13 to go, Mid-America Christian countered with a dominant 15-0 run over the next five minutes. Shannon Strickland started the streak with a mid-range jumper at the 18:14 mark before the Evangels before Clay Baldwin scored on the run out off the Clance Crosby steal to make it 15-3 with 14:38 left.
  • A Marcus Golden three-ball with 14:17 left ignited a strong 16-5 Larks run over the next three minutes as a Devin Lewis three-ball with 11:03 on the clock closed it to just a 20-19 MACU edge.
  • Morris Williams finally snapped MACU's cold spell with just under 10 minutes left after making a strong cut to the basket on Zander Baker's baseline dish, firing up a personal six-point run for the junior forward before Rob Gambill buried a left-side three with 7:53 remaining to close it to 26-23 with 7:53 left.
  • After Baker scored a layup to stretch the MACU lead to five, the Larks scored the next five on a Brennon Dodge long jumper and a Golden triple to tie the game up at 34-all at the 4:37 mark.
  • Surviving some red-hot three-point shooting from the Larks over a long stretch, the Evangels managed to get a little bit of breathing room by scoring six of the next eight, doing most of the damage from the free throw line before a pair of Devin Lewis three-balls gave Hesston its first lead of the game at 42-41 with 1:33 remaining.
  • Lewis trained a transition three from the left corner with just over a minute to go to give Hesston the 45-43 advantage heading into the halftime break.
• Second Half
  • While Baldwin buried a jumper to draw the contest even on MACU's first possession of the half, Hesston strung together an 8-4 run to take its largest lead of the game on Dodge's backdoor layup with 16:45 left to make it a 53-49 game.
  • With 16:25 on the clock, James Locke knocked down a contested right-side three before Baldwin knocked down a pair of throws with 15:31 left to put MACU back in-front 54-53.
  • After Baker knocked down one of two free throws out of the media timeout to make it a two-point MACU lead, the Larks once again caught fire from range as Hesston went on an 11-2 surge. A trio of treys, two of which came from Trent Thompson to make it a 64-57 HC lead, prompting head coach Josh Gamblin to call a timeout to regroup.
  • MACU's defense locked in over the next three minutes as the Evangels attacked the basket at will, as Williams knocked down a short jumper and Demerius Shakur went 4-for-4 from the line before Locke drained a left corner three with 10:14 to go put the Evangels back in-front 66-64.
  •  Hesston scored the next six to jump back in-front with Dodge knocking down a long jumper to set the score to 70-66 with 7:53 on the clock before the MACU defense again settled in over the next three minutes, scoring five of the next six with Williams draining a fade away jumper in the paint to tie it at 71-all with 5:21 to go.
  • Unfortunately, MACU's offense went cold over a four-minute stretch as the Larks rattled off seven-straight before the Evangels put up some fight in the last two minutes. After Strickland stroked a pair of throws with 1:39 left, Baker came up with a massive steal on a full-court press before burying a long-range top of the key three with 1:25 to go to cut it to a two-point game at 78-76, forcing the Larks to call a timeout.
  • The Evangels press worked to perfection again after the timeout as MACU forced another turnover and Baker dropped in two more foul shots to tie the game up at 78-all with 1:18 on the clock.
  • Both squads had chances in the final minute with each team having three possessions, but both defenses stepped up down the stretch as neither team could find the go-ahead score, sending the game into overtime.
• Overtime
  • MACU's defense completely clamped down on Hesston to start the extra session as a pair of Williams free throws and a Crosby foul shot was the only scoring through the first three minutes before Williams made a strong take to the basket for the scoop shot lay-in with 1:30 left to extend the Evangels' edge to 83-78.
  • On the ensuing possession, Lewis knocked down his fifth trifecta of the game from the left corner at the 1:14 mark, but it proved to be the only scoring the Larks came up with in overtime.
  • After both teams came up with defensive stops, Baker was fouled with 29 seconds left, sinking a pair of clutch foul shots before another stop set up Clance Crosby for two more made free throws to seal the 87-81 final.

GAME NOTES

• For the first time this season, Mid-America Christian was held to under 50-percent shooting, going 26-for-61 (41 percent) from the field and struggled from the arc at 5-of-25 (20 percent).
• However, one of the big advantages for MACU in the contest was its ability utilize its size inside to draw fouls, knocking down 32-of-40 (80 percent) from the free throw line for its most free throw attempts since Mar. 13, 2021 in the NAIA Tournament against William Penn (41) and its most made foul shots since Nov. 7, 2019 when the Evangels went 36-of-46 from the line in a 103-89 win over No. 11 LSU Shreveport.
• The Evangels had to overcome a red-hot Hesston squad from three-point range as the Larks finished 27-of-65 (41.5 percent) from the floor with most of the damage being from three at 18-for-38 (47.4 percent), their second-most made triples and second-best three-point percentage on the year.
• MACU controlled the glass, out-rebounding Hesston 45-32 with an 11-5 advantage on the offensive glass. The Evangels also won the turnover battle, forcing 15 Larks miscues to committing only 10, resulting in a 22-13 edge in points off takeaways.
• Morris Williams led the MACU offensive efforts with 22 points despite shooting only 6-of-15 from the field and 0-for-5 from three, taking advantage of a perfect night from the free throw line at 10-for-10. The Plano, Texas product became only the sixth Evangel in the NAIA Era (2007-present) to shoot perfect from the foul line on 10 or more attempts. Williams also finished with a double-double with a team-high 11 rebounds to go with a pair of steals.
• Coming up with clutch plays when it mattered most, Zander Baker finished with a career-high 14 points on 3-of-5 shooting and 7-for-10 from the line, turning up a team-high three steals to go with a pair of dimes.
• Clance Crosby also narrowly missed coming away with a double-double off the MACU bench, scoring 13 points on 4-for-8 from the field and 5-of-7 from the stripe to go with nine boards and a pair of thefts.
• Clay Baldwin was the only other Evangel to finish in double-figures with 11 points to go along with six rebounds and a team-high three assists.
• With the result, MACU officially takes the lead in the all-time series with it being the first meeting between the two programs.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will brace itself for another road game on Thursday night to start Sooner Athletic Conference play as the Evangels make the short trip to Southwestern Christian for an 8 p.m. tip-off inside Pickens-Springer Gymnasium.