MBB TXWES Postgame - 1-17-26
Gregg Reeves
64
Mid-America Christian MACU 12-5, 6-5
69
Winner Texas Wesleyan TXWES 12-5, 8-4
Mid-America Christian MACU
12-5, 6-5
64
Final
69
Texas Wesleyan TXWES
12-5, 8-4
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Mid-America Christian MACU 30 34 64
Texas Wesleyan TXWES 32 37 69

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | Adam Stanek - MACU Sports Information

Men’s Basketball Unable to Rally on Road against Rams

FORT WORTH, Texas – Despite staring down a double-digit deficit in the second half, the MACU Men's Basketball team battled back late to make it a one-possession game in the final two minutes, but the Evangels were unable to complete the comeback as Texas Wesleyan held on for the 69-64 victory inside the Sid Richardson Center on Saturday evening.
 
SCORE
  • Texas Wesleyan 69, Mid-America Christian 64
    • Mid-America Christian (12-5, 6-5 SAC)
    • Texas Wesleyan (12-5, 8-4 SAC)
TOP PERFORMERS GAME SUMMARY
  • First Half
    • After Mid-America Christian scored the opening bucket on a Corey Skillman layup on the first possession of the contest, Texas Wesleyan rattled off seven-unanswered to seize a 7-2 lead on Khalil Turner's fastbreak lay-in with just over 17 minutes to go.
    • Shannon Strickland helped stem the tide, burying a pair of midrange jumpers to jumpstart an 11-2 Evangels run that was capped off on a Morris Williams floating jumper with 12:52 to make it a 13-9 MACU advantage.
    • The Evangels went cold over the next five minutes, being held to without a score while TXWES strung together eight-straight to seize their own four-point advantage at 17-13 on another Turner layup at the 9:10 mark.
    • A James Locke and-one bucket with 7:45 left finally snapped MACU's cold spell to cut it to a one-point game, but the Rams countered with buckets from Montez Young Jr. and Daylan Hamilton to stretch it back to a 21-16 edge with just under seven minutes remaining.
    • With just over five minutes left, MACU started a 12-5 surge as Clay Baldwin tied it with a pair of free throws before getting the go-ahead layup to fall with 2:26 to go to make it a 28-26 Evangels advantage.
    • However, Texas Wesleyan grabbed back the momentum just before the half, scoring six of the next eight to take a 32-30 lead into the break.
  • Second Half
    • The Evangels got to the line early and often through the first five minutes, converting on 7-of-8 free throws as MACU outscored TXWES 9-6 as Strickland's throws with just over 15 minutes to go gave the Evangels their last lead at 39-38.
    • The Rams got a spark from Anthony Sierras, scoring all nine of their points during a 9-0 run over the next two minutes before Baldwin lobbed a pass into Williams for a dunk to snap the run, making it 46-41 at the 12:30 mark.
    • However, Texas Wesleyan continued to pull away over the next few minutes, as Sierras buried another three with 11:20 left to make it a double-digit lead before eventually extending the advantage out to 13 at 57-44 on Sierras' fourth long ball of the half with 8:08 on the clock.
    • Over the next five minutes, the MACU defense locked in, chiseling away at the Rams' edge before Strickland buried his only three of the contest with 3:50 remaining to make it a single-possession game at 60-57 to cap off a 13-3 MACU surge.
    • TXWES scored six of the next eight to briefly push its lead back out to 66-59 with two-and-a-half to go, but Baldwin once again came up big by canning a pair of foul shots before hitting a huge three with 1:39 left to close the deficit to 66-64.
    • After Young knocked down only 1-of-2 from the line with 1:21 remaining, Mid-America Christian had two more chances to either cut it to a one-point game or tie it on the next two possessions, but Baldwin wasn't able to get a layup to fall on the first before an open Williams three misfired off the back rim with 26 seconds left, forcing MACU to resort to fouling.
    • Even though the Rams only converted on another 1-of-2 from the line from Daveon Scott, MACU again missed on a three on the ensuing possession as the Rams sunk one more from the stripe with eight seconds left to ultimately seal the 69-64 final.
GAME NOTES
  • It was a tough shooting night for Mid-America Christian as the Evangels shot a season-low 21-of-59 (35.6 percent) from the field as well as their worst clip from the three-point arc at 4-for-26 (15.4 percent) with the lone offensive bright spot being an efficient 18-of-21 (85.7 percent) from the foul line.
  • Texas Wesleyan was much more efficient on the offensive end, scoring on 22-of-45 (48.9 percent) of its shots while knocking down 7-for-18 (38.9 percent) from the arc. The Evangels nearly took advantage of TXWES's porous free throw shooting as it only converted on 18-of-32 (56.3 percent) from the charity stripe.
  • The Rams won the turnover battle by forcing 16 MACU giveaways to their 14, resulting in an 18-14 scoring edge for TXWES.
  • The Evangels held a slight edge on the glass, out-rebounding the Rams 31-29 with an 8-4 advantage on the offensive end. As a result, MACU held the 10-2 scoring edge in second chance points.
  • Shannon Strickland led a balanced offensive output for MACU. Despite shooting just 1-for-6 from three, the senior guard was excellent inside the arc, missing only one shot to finish with 14 points on 5-of-11 shooting and converted on 3-of-4 free throws. Strickland was also MACU's leading rebounder with six boards to go with a pair of steals.
  • Clay Baldwin provided a spark off the MACU bench, scoring 13 points on 4-of-11 from the field and 4-for-4 from the line.
  • It was a tough offensive day for MACU's leading scorer in Morris Williams, who went 0-for-8 from three-point range, but still managed to shoot 4-for-7 inside the arc and knocked down a pair of throws to finish with 10 points. However, he made a big impact on the defensive end, pulling down five rebounds and tallying a career-best four steals.
  • Corey Skillman also made an impact on both ends of the floor, netting nine points on 3-of-5 from the field and 2-for-2 from the line to go with four boards and three steals.
  • With the loss, MACU's tough luck against Texas Wesleyan continued as the Rams have now won three of the last four meetings, closing the Evangels' all-time lead in the series to 17-10.
UP NEXT
  • Mid-America Christian will have a short turnaround before its next game as the Evangels prepare to head just down the road to Chickasha, Okla. on Monday for a 4 p.m. contest against rival Science & Arts inside the USAO Fieldhouse.
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