OKLAHOMA CITY – The MACU Men's Basketball team struggled to slow down Oklahoma City's red-hot shooting perimeter game inside the Gaulke Activity Center on Saturday afternoon as the Evangels fell 94-66.
 
SCORE

• Oklahoma City 94, Mid-America Christian 66
  • Mid-America Christian (5-2, 0-2 SAC)
  • Oklahoma City (5-3, 3-0 SAC)

TOP PERFORMERS

• Shannon Strickland – 19 Points, 8-13 FG, 3-5 3FG, 2 Reb
• Clay Baldwin – 11 Points, 3-7 FG, 2-3 3FG, 3-6 FT, 2 Reb
• Clance Crosby – 8 Points, 3-4 FG, 2-2 FT, 9 Reb, 2 Assists

GAME SUMMARY

• First Half
  • Mid-America Christian set the tone in the early going, attacking the inside with a pair of Clance Crosby layups through the first 1:40. While OCU briefly tied on a pair of Alphonse Mureta foul shots, Clay Baldwin started a 9-2 MACU run with a three-pointer before Morris Williams and Zander Baker hit a pair of long balls to make it 13-6 with 15:28 left.
  • After Shannon Strickland buried a trey at the 14:04 to briefly stop a string of four-straight for Oklahoma City, the Stars responded with a 14-2 run over a 3:43 stretch with Jonas Carlisle splashing a three-ball to stretch the Stars edge to 25-18 with 11:06 to go.
  • MACU's defense started clamping down over the next few minutes as a James Locke layup and a Morris Williams flush cut the deficit to three at 25-22 with 9:46 remaining, but OCU once again swung back with an 8-0 streak capped off on Hykeem Hancock's tip-in putback to give the Stars their first double-digit lead at 33-22 with just over seven minutes left.
  • With the Evangels trailing by nine with just over six minutes to go, a costly turnover led to a fastbreak Brian Anderson dunk, firing up a Stars 15-6 run finished off a pair of Alexander free throws with 1:45 left to double-up the OCU advantage to 49-31.
  • Strickland struck back with a three on the ensuing possession and kept OCU off the board the rest of the way as MACU trailed 49-34 at the break.
• Second Half
  • After the Stars scored on their first possession of the half, Mid-America Christian tried to work its way back behind the play of Corey Skillman, who scooped in a layup and then got a steal before drawing a foul on the fastbreak layup attempt, knocking down a pair of free throws to make it a 51-38 game with 18:50 to go.
  • However, another Carlisle three dampened the potential run as the Stars countered with a 10-2 surge over the next three minutes to extend their edge to 61-40 on yet another Carlisle trey.
  • With OCU leading by 20 approaching the 13-minute mark, the Evangels finally started to make a dent in the lead as a Strickland jump shot jumpstarted a 10-3 MACU surge as Baldwin's foul shot brought it to 69-56 with just over nine minutes to go.
  • Unfortunately, MACU struggled to keep the offensive attack going as Savaughn Smith's dunk with eight minutes left ignited a fiery 13-3 Stars surge as Hancock splashed a corner three to extend the OCU advantage back to 82-59 with 5:49 remaining.
  • A Crosby offensive board and tip-in with 3:24 to go would be the last time MACU cut the deficit to under 20 at 85-66 as Oklahoma City closed out the contest by scoring the final nine points to seal the 94-66 final.

GAME NOTES

• Mid-America Christian just didn't have an answer for Oklahoma City's blazing hot shooting as the Stars went 33-for-64 (51.6 percent) from the floor and 14-of-29 (48.3 percent) from three-point range while also converting on a highly efficient rate from the foul line at 14-for-17 (82.4 percent).
• Meanwhile, MACU finished 25-for-61 (41 percent) from the floor and converted just 7-of-25 (28 percent) from three-point range. The Evangels also had a tough go from the foul line, shooting 9-of-14 (64.3 percent).
• While MACU did win the turnover battle by committing only 14 to OCU's 17, the Stars won the rebounding game, out-boarding the Evangels 36-32.
• MACU especially struggled to contain Oklahoma City's top two scorers coming into the night in Brian Alexander and Jonas Carlisle. The OCU pairing finished the night with a combined 52 of the Stars' 94 points.
• Despite a tough offensive outing, senior guard Shannon Strickland put together a strong offensive performance, scoring a team-high 19 points 8-of-13 shooting, knocking down 3-for-5 from three-point range.
• The only other Evangel to crack double-figures was Clay Baldwin, pouring in 11 points on 3-of-7 from the field and 2-for-3 from three and 3-of-6 from the charity stripe.
• Clance Crosby narrowly missed reaching a double-double after finishing with eight points on 3-for-4 shooting to go with nine boards.
• With the loss, the Stars snapped the Evangels' four-game winning streak over OCU and marked only MACU's second home loss to the Stars since 2013.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will look to regroup during the Thanksgiving break before the Evangels head to Omaha, Neb. on Nov. 29 for an exhibition contest against NCAA D-I Omaha. The contest is slated for a 7 p.m. tip-off inside Baxter Arena.