OKLAHOMA CITY – The MACU Men's Basketball team picked up its first win in Sooner Athletic Conference play inside the Gaulke Activity Center on Thursday night as the Evangels rode some red-hot shooting in the first half and staved off a massive Central Christian second half rally to secure the 83-75 victory.
 
SCORE

• Mid-America Christian 83, Central Christian 75
  • Mid-America Christian (6-2, 1-2 SAC)
  • Central Christian (5-5, 0-4 SAC)

TOP PERFORMERS

• Shannon Strickland – 16 Points, 5-8 FG, 2-4 3FG, 4-4 FT, 11 Reb, 3 Assists, 2 Steals
• Zander Baker – 15 Points, 4-6 FG, 2-4 3FG, 5-7 FT, 4 Reb, 2 Steals
• Corey Skillman – 14 Points, 6-12 FG, 2-6 3FG, 4 Assists, 2 Reb
• Clance Crosby – 14 Points, 6-9 FG, 2-2 FT, 3 Reb, 3 Steals

GAME SUMMARY

• First Half
  • Both teams went back-and-forth through the first three-and-a-half minutes but Clance Crosby fought through the contact to float a five-foot jumper off the glass to ignite a 10-0 MACU run over a 1:27 stretch as Corey Skillman capped the run by splashing a left-wing three with 15 minutes left to make it 15-7.
  • MACU and CCCK traded blows over the next five minutes with neither team being able to put together a run before James Locke stepped into a contested three-pointer from the left side to start a 7-0 surge capped off on Zander Baker's steal and coast-to-coast layup to bring it to 29-14 with 7:30 to go.
  • The Tigers notched a pair of triples on back-to-back possessions from Michael Doria and Aaron Doria, trimming the MACU edge to 29-20 and forcing head coach Josh Gamblin to call a timeout with 6:35 left.
  • Out of the break, Baker buried a 35-foot trey from the left sideline, starting up a massive 17-2 MACU streak that was ended on Skillman's fastbreak runout with 2:41 remaining to set the squad's largest lead of the half at 46-22.
  • Offense came at a premium over the final two-and-a-half minutes for both sides, but MACU's defense held the Tigers scoreless over the final 1:32 before getting a pair of Morris Williams foul shots and a Clay Baldwin foul shot with six seconds left to send Mid-America Christian into the break with the 51-27 advantage.
• Second Half
  • Following Jaeden Whitten's layup to start the scoring in the second stanza, MACU grabbed its largest lead of the contest at 55-30 after netting four of the next five off a Strickland midrange jumper and a Crosby tip-in off the Skillman lob with 17:24 remaining.
  • Andruw Rodon's old-fashioned three-point play at the 17:09 mark fired up a dominant 17-2 surge as Chris Whitten buried a tightly contested three from the top of the key to cut the CCCK deficit down to 57-47 with 13:19 on the clock.
  • After being held to without a field goal for a 5:30 stretch, Crosby finally snapped the cold spell on a lay-in off a sensational rifle pass from Baldwin at the top of the key into the paint with 11:54 remaining. The Evangels extended the edge out to 14 just moments later when Baker drained a pair of throws to make it 61-47.
  • MACU maintained its double-digit edge through the midway point of the second half before the Tigers scored eight of the next 10 as Chris Whitten drained another three-ball with 8:10 to go, closing the gap to its closest since early in the second half at 65-58.
  • Central Christian kept it to a seven-point game until there was six-and-a-half left as Strickland's strong drive down the right lane ignited an eight-unanswered run capped off on Crosby's monster flush with 4:18 left, extending the edge to 77-62.
  • The Tigers slowly but surely chiseled their way back, knocking it down to single digits on Andre Cooper's layup with 1:38 to go, but Central Christian was unable to put much more of a dent into the deficit the rest of the way as the Evangels eventually pulled out the 83-75 win.

GAME NOTES

• Mid-America Christian put together its best shooting performance of the season, going 28-for-51 (54.9 percent) while knocking down 8-of-21 (38.1 percent) from three-point range to go with 19-for-26 (73.1 percent) from the charity stripe. MACU was especially great in the first half as the Evangels went into the locker room with an 18-of-28 (64.3 percent) field goal clip and 8-for-15 (53.3 percent) from the arc.
• Central Christian was also efficient on the offensive end, wrapping up the contest with a 24-for-52 (46.2 percent) shooting rate and knocked down a blazing 11-of-27 (40.7 percent) from downtown. However, MACU took advantage of its efficiency from the line compared to the Tigers, who went 16-for-25 (64 percent) from the stripe.
• Both teams were relatively even in the floor game. The Evangels committed two less turnovers at 10 to 12 for the Tigers, but both teams finished with 14 points off takeaways. On the glass, MACU barely out-rebounded Central at 31-30 while CCCK seized the 7-4 edge on the offensive glass.
• MACU's scoring was downright balanced with five players wrapping up the contest scoring in double-figures. Shannon Strickland led the charge for the Evangels with 16 points on 5-of-8 shooting, going 2-for-4 from three and 4-of-4 from the line with a career-high 11 boards for his first MACU double-double. He also dished out three assists and tallied two steals to his floor game.
• Coming off a stellar shooting performance at NCAA D-I Omaha last Saturday, Zander Baker stayed hot, notching 15 points on 4-for-6 from the field, including 2-of-4 from three and 5-for-7 from the foul line to go with four rebounds and a pair of thefts.
• Corey Skillman and Clance Crosby each chipped in 14 as Skillman finished 6-for-12 from the floor and 2-for-6 from downtown while posting a stellar 4-to-0 assist-turnover ratio. Crosby also turned in his best game as an Evangels, shooting 6-for-9 and 2-of-2 from the stripe with three rebounds and a team-high three steals.
• Morris Williams rounded out MACU's double-digit scorers with 10 points on 3-of-5 shooting and went 4-for-4 from the line to go along with his four boards and two steals.
• Clay Baldwin led MACU's distribution efforts off the bench with five assists to go with his five points.
• Mid-America Christian avenged its last outing against Central Christian when the Tigers handed MACU a tough 80-73 overtime defeat on the road back on Feb. 10.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will now brace itself for the big stage on Saturday as the Evangels will travel to the Paycom Center, home of the Oklahoma City Thunder for a 12:30 p.m. tip-off against No. 5 Langston.