MCPHERSON, Kan. – The MACU Men's Basketball team was unable to contain a late second half run at Central Christian as the Tigers rallied from nine down to force overtime before pulling out the 80-73 win inside Jerry Alexander Arena on Monday night.
 
TOP PERFORMERS

• Josiah Fulcher – 29 Points, 12-23 FG, 3-6 3FG, 12 Reb, 2 Assists
• Juwan White – 25 Points, 5-13 FG, 15-17 FT, 5 Steals, 4 Reb, 2 Assists
• Keeshawn Mason – 12 Points, 4-13 FG, 4-5 FT, 5 Reb

GAME SUMMARY

• First Half
  • Mid-America Christian (18-6, 14-6 SAC) was strong defensively through the first three minutes as a Keeshawn Mason tip-in and a steal and fastbreak layup by Juwan White gave MACU the early edge before Central Christian (15-10, 11-10 SAC) broke into the scoring column on Chris Whitten's second chance right wing three with 16:45 left to cut it to a 5-3 game.
  • It was a back-and-forth battle over the next six minutes before the Tigers captured their first lead on Jaeden Whitten's fastbreak layup with 11 minutes to go to set the score to 15-14.
  • Central Christian eventually worked its lead out to 23-18 on a deep Jevarrick Butler three with 7:03 remaining before MACU swung back with a 9-2 run as White free throws with 3:51 left put the Evangels back in-front 27-25.
  • The Tigers netted the next four as an Omari Maulana three-ball briefly pushed CCCK ahead before White once again willed MACU ahead by scoring four-unanswered as his runner and pair of free throws with 10 seconds left set the score to 31-29.
  • CCCK took advantage of a late MACU foul as Chris Whitten knocked down a pair of throws to tie it with three seconds left, but an ill-advised foul on the in-bound by Whitten sent White back to the line with 2.7 seconds to go as his freebies sent the Evangels into the break with the 33-31 edge.
• Second Half
  • The Evangels struggled out of the break as the Tigers opened the second stanza by scoring eight of the first 11 points as Butler's free throws at the 16:46 mark gave CCCK the 39-36 lead.
  • The two squads swapped leads twice over the next two minutes before White's off-balance right elbow jumper ignited a 7-2 MACU surge before Maulana buried another three to tie it up at 48-all with 12:51 on the clock.
  • The MACU defense buckled down over the next four minutes, allowing the Tigers to score just three points as a 9-3 Evangels streak was capped off on a Josiah Fulcher floater to stretch the lead to 57-51 with 8:30 remaining.
  • A Chris Whitten trey cut it back to a one-possession game on the ensuing possession, but MACU ended up capturing its largest lead soon following by scoring seven of the next eight with Fulcher's steal and coast-to-coast step-through layup making it 64-55 with only 4:34 left.
  • Central Christian managed to clamp down on MACU over the final four-and-a-half as the Tigers chiseled it down to a one-possession game on Andre Shelby's bank shot three from the right wing with 48 seconds left, closing it to 66-64.
  • MACU had a great opportunity to put the game away on the ensuing possession as the Evangels came up with an offensive board before Fulcher was fouled with 11 seconds to go. Unfortunately, he missed the front end of the one-and-one, giving the Tigers once last chance to tie or take the lead.
  • On the final possession, Jaeden Whitten was able to get a little bit of space driving down the left side and hit a game-tying floater with 1.8 seconds left to tie it up at 66-66 and send the game in to overtime.
• Overtime
  • The lead exchanged hands twice through the first three minutes of the extra session, but Central Christian seized control when Malachi Farr buried a cold-blooded three from the right wing with 2:02 remaining to stretch the Tigers edge to 72-68.
  • MACU cut it to a two-point game on White's free throws at the 1:44 mark, but Maulana was able to beat the Evangels on the dribble drive and make another big bucket to extend the Tigers edge back to 74-70 with 1:20 on the clock.
  • After White went one-for-two from the line with 23 seconds left to cut it to a three-point game, Maulana knocked down two huge free throws for the Tigers just two seconds later to extend the lead back to 76-71.
  • On the ensuing possession, White drew a foul on a three-point try and went 2-for-3 to once again make it a one-possession game with 15 seconds to go, but Chris Whitten all but put the game away with two free throws with 13 seconds on the clock before a long rebound and run-out to Whitten for the fastbreak lay-in with two seconds left sealed the 80-73 defeat for the Evangels.

GAME NOTES

• It was a tough shooting night for Mid-America Christian as the Evangels finished 24-for-70 (34.3 percent) from the floor and 4-of-23 (17.4 percent) from three, but the charity stripe until the end was able to keep MACU in it as the Evangels shot 21-for-27 (77.8 percent) from the line.
• Central Christian wasn't able to shoot much better against MACU's feisty defense as the Tigers finished 23-of-62 (37.1 percent), but the Tigers made up a massive difference from the three-point arc, going 12-for-32 (37.5 percent) while also effectively knocking down 22-of-29 (75.9 percent) from the foul line.
• It was a tough battle on the glass for both teams as CCCK held a slim 46-44 edge while MACU held the 11-9 advantage on the offensive glass. It was also a close battle when it came to turnovers as the Evangels forced the Tigers into one more turnover at 16-to-15.
• One bright spot for MACU was that it was able to control the paint as the Evangels outscored Central Christian in 36-18 in the painted area.
• Mid-America Christian got a pair of outstanding performances from its top two players in Josiah Fulcher and Juwan White. Fulcher finished with a career-high 29 points on 12-of-23 shooting and went 3-for-6 from the three-point arc. He also recorded his second double-double of the season with a game-high 12 rebounds.
• White scored 18 of his 25 points in the opening half as he wrapped up the contest by shooting 5-of-13 from the field. However, it was a record night for the senior guard from the free throw line as he tied the NAIA Era (2007-present) single game record with 15 made foul shots, finishing 15-for-17 to go with a career-best five steals and four rebounds.
• The 15 made free throws for White moves him into a three-way tie with MACU Player of the Decade Charlie Shorter, who set the mark on Jan. 19 against Science & Arts while DaRaun Clark was the last to make 15 on Oct. 27, 2022 against Kansas Christian.
• Keeshawn Mason was the only other Evangel to break into double-figures as he poured in 12 points on 4-of-13 from the floor and 4-for-5 from the line to go along with five boards.
• The Evangels struggled to find balance in its offensive attack as MACU could only muster seven points outside of its top three scorers on the night.
• With the defeat, Mid-America Christian and Central Christian split the season series as the Evangels won their previous meeting inside the Gaulke Activity Center by a score of 83-68 back on Nov. 18.
• The loss also moves MACU 1.5 games back of Nelson at the top of the Sooner Athletic Conference standings and a half-game back of Wayland Baptist in second while sitting in a tie for third with John Brown (14-6).

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will look to try to get back on-track to close out its three-game road stand on Thursday as the Evangels prepare to head down to Chickasha, Oklahoma for an 8 p.m. tip-off inside the USAO Fieldhouse against Science & Arts.