CHICKASHA, Okla. – The MACU Men's Basketball team went toe-to-toe with Science & Arts inside the USAO Fieldhouse on Monday afternoon, but a strong second half surge allowed the Evangels to seize a big lead before holding of a late Drovers rally for the 84-77 victory to snap their two-game skid.
 
SCORE

• Mid-America Christian 84, Science & Arts 77
  • Mid-America Christian (13-5, 7-5 SAC)
  • Science & Arts (5-13, 1-11 SAC)

TOP PERFORMERS

• Morris Williams – 18 Points, 4-8 FG, 2-4 3FG, 8-13 FT, 8 Reb, 3 Steals, 2 Assists
• Shannon Strickland – 16 Points, 5-9 FG, 3-5 3FG, 3-4 FT, 4 Steals
• Corey Skillman – 13 Points, 3-7 FG, 6-8 FT, 2 Reb
• Demerius Shakur – 12 Points, 3-4 FG, 5-5 FT, 4 Reb
• Clance Crosby – 8 Points, 3-5 FG, 2-2 FT, 9 Reb, 2 Stelas

GAME SUMMARY

• First Half
  • Both sides exchanged leads through the first 2:09 as Bryce Cowns knocked down a three to give Science & Arts a 5-4 lead before Corey Skillman drained one with 17:51 on the clock to put Mid-America Christian back in-front at 7-5.
  • The Drovers strung together a seven-unanswered run to take a 12-7 lead off back-to-back Mohand Ammad buckets, but the Evangels swung back with 7-1 run of their own as Morris Williams came up with the loose ball and hit a three from the top of the key to give MACU the 14-13 advantage.
  • A Jamouri McCalister lay-in with 11:26 to go jumpstarted an eight-unanswered Drovers surge as Elijah Burney's foul shots with 8:10 left gave USAO a 23-16 advantage. After being held scoreless over a four-and-a-half-minute stretch, Demerius Shakur put up a tightly-contest put-back layup with 7:56 remaining.
  • The Evangels closed it back to a three-point game on a pair of Clance Crosby free throws with 6:32 to go, but the Drovers once again rattled off seven-straight as Bryce Cowns scooped up a loose ball and flushed a dunk at the 5:37 mark to make it a 32-22 USAO edge.
  • MACU briefly cut the deficit in-half following Shakur's right corner three and a pair of Zander Baker free throws with 5:04 on the clock, but the Drovers scored four of the next six to briefly extend the lead back to 36-29 on another McCalister lay-in with 3:10 left.
  • At the 2:50 mark, Clay Baldwin made an excellent drive and kick to Shannon Strickland in the left corner with a three-ball to ignite a 9-0 streak that Strickland finished himself with a trey from the top of the key with 1:06 left to give MACU the 38-36 lead.
  • The only score in the final minute came from McCalister, who drove the length of the court and drew a foul with 2.8 seconds left, knocking down 1-of-2 from the stripe to cut the MACU edge down to 38-37 at the half.
• Second Half
  • Science & Arts came out of the half on-fire from behind the arc, nailing a trio of long balls through the first three minutes before McCalister converted an old fashioned three-point play with 15:52 on the clock to close out a 12-6 Drovers run with USAO seizing a 49-44 lead.
  • The Evangels worked their way back into the lead when Strickland knocked down a three from the top of the key before Shakur got the hoop and the harm with 13 minutes to go to give MACU the lead back at 52-51.
  • While the Drovers scored the next three to take a two-point lead, MACU put together a massive response following another Williams long ball at the 10:46 mark as the Evangels strung together a 10-unanswered streak as James Locke's three from the top extended the MACU edge to 62-54 with 8:56 remaining.
  • While Ammad scored the next three for USAO to cut it to a five-point game, MACU's defense responded by holding the Drovers scoreless over a near four-minute stretch once again as the Evangels rattled off 11 in a row with Williams converting on four free throws to make it a commanding 73-57 MACU edge with 4:24 on the clock.
  • An Elijah Burney and-one bucket with 4:12 left snapped the Drovers' cold spell, jumpstarting an 8-1 USAO run as Bryce Cowns right corner three cut the Evangels lead to single-digits at 74-65 with three minutes to go.
  • The Drovers elected to go with a fouling strategy over the final two minutes and some change and while MACU struggled from the line, converting on only 10-of-18 free throws down the stretch, the Evangels did enough defensively to ultimately come away with the 84-77 win.

GAME NOTES

• Overall, Mid-America Christian shot a respectable 23-for-51 (45.5 percent) while converting on 9-of-25 (36 percent) from the three-point arc. The Evangels attempted a season-high 42 free throws, converting on 29 for a 69 percent clip from the stripe.
• Facing one of the top-scoring offenses in the Sooner Athletic Conference, the Evangels held Science & Arts to only 24-of-66 (36.4 percent) from the field and 9-for-35 (25.7 percent) from the three-point arc. The Drovers also had a hard time converting from the line, making only 20-for-29 (69 percent) rate as well.
• Despite the result, USAO dominated the glass, out-rebounding MACU 42-32 with an 11-3 edge on the offensive glass, resulting in an 11-2 difference in second chance scoring for the Drovers.
• However, the Evangels won the turnover battle, forcing 14 USAO giveaways while committing just 10, resulting in a commanding 20-8 advantage in points off takeaways.
• Morris Williams led a balanced offensive scoring output for the Evangels, netting 18 points on 4-of-8 shooting, knocking down 2-for-4 from three-point range and 8-of-13 from the stripe. Williams also narrowly missed a double-double with eight rebounds and three steals on the defensive end.
• Despite battling through a second half injury, Shannon Strickland put up a solid offensive game with 16 points, shooting 5-for-9 from the field and 3-of-5 from behind the arc while converting 3-for-4 from the line. He also made a strong impact on the defensive end by coming up with four thefts.
• Corey Skillman turned in a 13-point game while shooting 3-for-7 and 6-of-8 from the stripe. Demerius Shakur rounded out MACU's double-digit scorers off the bench with 12 points, going 3-for-4 from the field and 5-of-5 at the line with four rebounds over 20 minutes of action.
• Clance Crosby led MACU on the glass with nine rebounds and finished with eight points on 3-of-5 shooting and 2-for-2 from the line to go with a pair of steals.
• By getting the win, Mid-America Christian has swept the season series from the Drovers for the second-straight year while also taking over the 21-20 lead in the all-time series since first facing each other in 2007.
• MACU snaps a two-game losing streak while the Drovers tough season continued as they've now lost seven in a row and 13 of their last 14 games.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will close out its three-game road stand with a tough cross town challenge as the Evangels take on Oklahoma City inside Abe Lemons Arena on Tuesday night with the contest slated for an 8 p.m. tip-off.