GOODWELL, OKLA. – The MACU Men's basketball team maintained a phenomenal defensive front, setting the lowest points allowed in a contest throughout the NAIA ERA (2007-) in the 53-42 victory over Panhandle State inside the Anchor D Arena Saturday afternoon.
TOP PERFORMERS

• Josiah Fulcher – 16 pts, 7-17 FG, 10 reb
• Keeshawn Mason – 16 pts, 7-13 FG, 5 reb

GAME SUMMARY

• First Half
  • Mid-America Christian (20-7, 16-7 SAC) trailed Panhandle State (11-17, 9-15 SAC) 10-6 through the first five minutes after Juwan White knocked down a jumper that ignited an 11-0 run capped off on a free throw by Josiah Fulcher giving the Evangels a 15-10 lead with 10:01 remaining.
  • The Aggies caught fire from behind the arc, going on a 12-2 run that featured three trey-balls giving OPSU the lead right back with a 22-17 edge with 5:57 left on the clock.
  • Keeshawn Mason got the Evangels back in the scoring column on a layup with 5:35 to play, however MACU failed to get anything else going the rest of the half.
  • Although MACU was unable to push anymore scoring across, they held the Aggies to the same caliber, making the last 4:50 scoreless on both sides with an 0-for-7 from the floor by MACU and 0-for-5 by OPSU.
  • The 13-8 advantage over the final 10 minutes allowed OPSU to carry a 23-19 lead into the halftime break.
• Second Half
  • MACU recaptured the lead behind a 7-0 start, Mason led it off with a lay-in 26 seconds in, Magok Manyang then banged a three and Fulcher capped off the run with a layup providing the Evangels with a 26-23 lead with 17:30 to go.
  • After going back-and-forth for the next four minutes, Fulcher busted out the hook shot getting a friendly roll launching a 7-2 run over a 90 second span lifting the MACU lead to 37-28 with 12:21 to play.
  • Following the Fulcher three making it 37-28, the Aggies scored five of the next seven over a five-minute span cutting the MACU lead to 39-33 on three free throws by Kyle Belgrave II.
  • Mason brought the Evangels back on the board following five minutes without scoring, he caught fire at the right time, scoring the next six MACU points to lead an 8-2 run boosting the Evangels lead to 47-35 with 2:34 left.
  • The Aggies crept back in it, putting up five unanswered on a three from PJ Daniels and a pair of free throws making it 47-40 in favor of MACU with 1:22 on the clock.
  • MACU scored six in the last minute while allowing just two OPSU points, including four-of-four at the charity stripe from Juwan White, helping the Evangels pull away with a 53-42 victory.

GAME NOTES

• Both teams struggled from the floor, Mid-America Christian went 20-for-61 (32.8 percent) while holding Panhandle State to 14-of-46 (30.4 percent.)
• After scoring just 19 in the first half, the Evangels held the Aggies to just 19 of their own in the second, in part of a 34-19 advantage in the second half that propelled MACU to victory.
• It was a great defensive game for the Evangels, 42 points allowed took sole possession of the least amount of points an opponent has scored since the NAIA era which started in 2007.
• Josiah Fulcher and Keeshawn Mason led the contest in scoring with 16, Fulcher went 7-of-17 from the floor with a game-high ten rebounds, picking up his third double-double of the season.
• Mason turned in a solid game, he scored eight of his sixteen points late in the second half that was a huge factor to the victory, he also added five boards as well.
• Tarrence Gaines and Magok Manyang just missed double-digits in rebounds, Gaines had nine to Manyang's eight.
• Juwan White was the only other Evangel to score ten or more points, he did the majority of his damage at the line, going 6-for-8 on the day.
• With the victory MACU pushes its record to 8-6 against Panhandle dating back to 2018.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian finishes off SAC play with a Monday night matchup at Wayland Baptist with a tip-off set for 6:00 p.m.