OKLAHOMA CITY – The MACU Men's basketball team pulled away with an 81-73 victory over Texas Wesleyan inside the Gaulke Activity Center Thursday night allowing them to advance to SAC Tournament Semifinal play.
TOP PERFORMERS

• Tarrence Gaines – 16 points, 5-7 FG, 4-5 3 FG, 2 reb, 2 stl
• Juwan White – 16 points, 4-15 FG, 6-6 FT, 6 reb, 5 ast, 2 stl
• Magok Manyang – 15 points, 4-6 FG, 2-4 3FG, 5-6 FT, 7 reb, 2 blk

GAME SUMMARY

• First Half
  • Magok Manyang put up the first four points of the game for Mid-America Christian (22-7) including a triple on a cross-court pass by Josiah Fulcher making it 4-3 MACU 1:18 into the contest.
  • The next near nine minutes consisted of very tight-knitted defense from Texas Wesleyan (19-10) allowing them to outscore MACU 15-6 down the stretch taking a 18-10 lead.
  • MACU kicked the offense into another gear just past the first ten minutes, Tarrence Gaines and Zander Baker connected for back-to-back three's putting up six unanswered to cut it to a one possession game down 18-16 with 9:16 to go.
  • TXWES answered back with back-to-back treys of its own, however MACU scored on the next three straight possessions, tying it up at 24-24 with 7:10 remaining on Fulcher's three that was created due to Juwan White's takeaway on the opposite end.
  • Both squads went back-and-forth over the final seven minutes with the advantage going in MACU's favor at 16-11. The Evangels finished the half going 4-for-5 from the field with White coming up with another steal allowing Fulcher to dash up court and slide through the lane with an acrobatic layup giving MACU a 40-35 advantage going into the halftime break.
• Second Half
  • The Rams opened the half with a 9-2 surge with Vegas Evans drilling a three-pointer with 17:57 on the clock providing a 44-42 edge for TXWES.
  • Pace of play continued with a blow-for-blow type of atmosphere, chasing 46-44, the Evangels struck for an 8-2 run that included a pair of threes from Gaines and Manyang. With 15:45 to go MACU stretched the lead to 52-48 on Manyang's trey from the left elbow.
  • The MACU lead jumped to 56-50 with 12:53 remaining after Rams guard Matt Nero was rejected by Manyang on a layup attempt, the miss was corralled by Quentin Woodson, he handed it off to Gaines who sprinted down the baseline hitting a behind the back dribble to create some space to bury the jumper over a pair of Rams defenders.
  • Behind the arc shooting helped the Rams score seven of the next 10, bringing it back to a one-possession game on Trey Singal's three, cutting the MACU lead to 59-57 with 9:35 left.
  • Fulcher found Gaines in the right-corner for a three-ball in which he drained making it 64-61 MACU with 8:25 to play.
  • The next four and a half minutes maintained a blow-for-blow style, with the Evangels slightly leading 8-7 in points scored. With 3:10 left, Gaines splashed a clutch three from the elbow with just a second on the shot-clock giving MACU a breathable seven-point lead up 75-68.
  • Nero responded with a three for the Rams bringing it back to a two-possession game with TXWES trailing 75-71 with 2:01 to go. However, Keeshawn Mason executed a turnaround layup with :44 seconds boosting the lead to 77-71, the Evangels went 4-for-4 down the stretch from the line while allowing a bucket in the process, leading to a 81-73 victory.

GAME NOTES

• Both teams displayed strong performances from the floor with Mid-America Christian narrowly outshooting Texas Wesleyan 25-for-53, (47.2 percent) to 27-for-58 (46.6 percent.) Three-point shooting was a strength on both sides, the Evangels went 12-of-31 compared to the Rams 11-of-24.
• A big difference maker was the turnover and fast break point opportunities, MACU forced 15 turnovers while committing just eight of its own, leading to a plus ten (10-0) in the scoring column on points on fast breaks.
• The Evangels also did a great job of cashing in at the line, they shot 83.3 percent as a squad, going 15-for-18. Meanwhile TXWES struggled from the charity stripe shooting 63.2 percent on a 12-for-19 performance.
• Tarrence Gaines and Juwan White led the Evangels in scoring with 16, Gaines finished 5-for-7 with a phenomenal 4-of-5 from behind the arc with a pair of steals. White shot 4-for-15, however he offered six rebounds, two steals and five assists on top of his 16 points.
• Magok Manyang shot it well from all over the field, he finished with 15 points on 4-of-6 from the floor including 2-of-4 from three and 5-of-6 at the line, he just missed a double-double with seven boards. He also added two rejections, making it the fifth time this season he has blocked two or more shots in a game.
• Josiah Fulcher flirted with a double-double, he finished with 11 points, seven rebounds and four assists.
• Keeshawn Mason played well in the scoring department, he played through foul trouble, going 4-for-5 from the field for nine points.
• MACU limited the Rams big three of Trey Singal, Richard Amaefule and Montez Young Jr. who combined to average just over 42 points game to just 25 points with Singal doing the heavy lifting with 15. Amaefule received his second foul just five minutes into the game and did not check back in during the first half.
• Despite getting swept in the regular season, MACU with the win tonight has now won seven of the last 10 against TXWES.
• With the win tonight, the Evangels have now won in quarterfinal matchups in back-to-back seasons.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian heads to Langston for the SAC Semifinals matchup against Langston inside the C.F. Gayles Fieldhouse with a tip-off set for 8:00 p.m.