OKLAHOMA CITY – The MACU Men's Basketball team's second half rally came up short against No. 17 Nelson to close out its five-game home stand inside the Gaulke as the Lions pulled away with the 81-67 win on Thursday night.
 
SCORE

• Nelson 81, Mid-America Christian 67
  • Mid-America Christian (12-4, 6-4 SAC)
  • Nelson (14-3, 9-2 SAC)

TOP PERFORMERS

• Morris Williams – 13 Points, 5-13 FG, 2-4 3FG, 9 Reb
• Corey Skillman – 13 Points, 4-11 FG, 2-7 3FG, 3-4 FT, 7 Reb
• Shannon Strickland – 9 Points, 4-9 FG, 5 Reb
• Able Houston – 8 Points, 3-3 FG, 2-6 FG, 4-5 FT, 9 Reb

GAME SUMMARY

• First Half
  • Mid-America Christian opened the contest with a strong start as a floating jumper in the paint by Morris Williams and a midrange jumper by Shannon Strickland gave the Evangels the early 4-0 advantage a minute in.
  • Even though Nelson scored seven of the next eight to take a 7-6 lead over the next three-and-a-half minutes, Corey Skillman found a score on a step-back jumper from the free throw line with 15:17 remaining to make it an 8-7 contest.
  • Unfortunately, that would be the last lead MACU held on the night as Nelson countered with a 12-3 streak, holding the Evangels to without a field goal for nearly six minutes as Preston Lawrence drained a trey to set the score to 19-11 with 10:20 to go.
  • With 9:33 left, Able Houston finally snapped MACU's bucket spell with an and-one tip-in to trim it down to 19-14. Even though Ozavian Buford buried a three to briefly push the edge up to eight, MACU did some damage from the foul line over the next few Houston and Demerius Shakur draining a pair each to knock it down to 22-18 with 8:27 left.
  • MACU once again went through a slight cold spell that allowed the Lions to stretch their advantage back to eight on Jesse Iwese's layup, but the Evangels put together a strong response as Skillman and Manuel Zapater each knocked down a triple to cut the deficit to 26-24 with 5:24 remaining, prompting the Lions to call a timeout.
  • Nelson came out of the 30-second break as the stronger side as the Lions closed out the half with a 17-4 run as MACU's only field goal was a Skillman triple at the 2:48 mark, allowing Nelson to go into the half with a 43-28 advantage.
• Second Half
  • Even though a Lawrence fastbreak three from the left corner with 19:03 to go gave Nelson its largest lead of the game at 46-30, the Evangels slowly chiseled away at the Lions' lead as a Clance Crosby deflection and steal allowed Williams to get out on a fastbreak lay-in to knock it down to a single-digit deficit at 50-41 with 13:52 left.
  • Nelson countered by scoring the next five to push it back out to a 14-point advantage at 55-41 with just under 13 minutes to go on scores from Trelin Green and a three by Micah Clark.
  • Once again, the Lions maintained their double-digit advantage over a near four-minute stretch before a James Locke shot from the midrange allowed MACU to bring it down to 59-50 with 8:01 on the clock.
  • At the seven-minute mark, the Evangels made their move. Trailing by 13, MACU rattled off a 13-4 run with Williams and Strickland scoring 11 of the points during streak to close it to 67-63 with 4:21 remaining.
  • Following a pair of Shakur free throws with 3:09 to go to bring it back to four following a Clark dunk, Nelson closed out the contest by scoring 12 of the final 14 points to hand MACU the 81-67 defeat.

GAME NOTES

• The result marked Mid-America Christian's worst offensive output of the season as the Evangels were held to only 23-of-60 (38.3 percent) shooting, including 6-for-21 (28.6 percent) from three-point range, making it the third-lowest clip from the field and second-lowest rate from the outside this season.
• Defensively, MACU managed to hold one of the NAIA's top scoring team to only 25-for-70 (35.7 percent) shooting and 25.8 percent from three-point range, but the Lions were able to get to the free throw line frequently, converting on 23-of-34 (67.6 percent) of their attempts.
• The biggest result in the outcome was Nelson's ability to completely control the floor game. The Lions committed only nine turnovers while forcing a relatively solid MACU ball-handling team to a season-high 19 turnovers, resulting in a 24-13 difference in points off takeaways. Nelson also controlled the glass, outrebounding MACU 49-44 with an 18-11 advantage on the offensive glass.
• Morris Williams and Corey Skillman were the lone Evangels to finish in double-figures. Williams ended his night with 13 points on 5-of-13 shooting, going 2-for-4 from three while narrowly missing a double-double with nine boards. Meanwhile, Skillman finished 4-for-11 from the field and 2-of-7 from downtown with 3-for-4 coming from the line to go with seven rebounds.
• Able Houston provided a spark off the bench by just narrowly missing a double-double, netting eight points on 2-of-6 shooting and 4-for-5 from the line while yanking down a season-best nine boards.
• Shannon Strickland narrowly missed breaking into double-digits as well, scoring nine points on 4-for-9 shooting to go along with five rebounds.
• Part of the reason for MACU's late struggles in the first half was due to foul trouble as the Evangels committed 17 fouls through the first 20 minutes while seven players carried two or more fouls into the halftime break.
• With the defeat, MACU now holds just an 18-15 edge over Nelson in the all-time series since 2005, making it only the fourth time the Evangels fell to the Lions at home while three of those coming in the last five years.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will be back on the road for the first time in 2026 on Saturday as the Evangels head down to Fort Worth to take on Texas Wesleyan for a 4 p.m. tip-off inside the Sid Richardson Center.