Mid-America Christian University

OKLAHOMA CITY – The MACU Men's Basketball team aggressive defense was on full display in its season-opener inside the Gaulke Activity Center on Tuesday night as the Evangels tied the second-most thefts in a game in the NAIA Era to cruise to an 88-55 win over Ozark Christian.
 
SCORE

• Mid-America Christian 88, Ozark Christian 55
  • Mid-America Christian (1-0)
  • Ozark Christian (0-1)

TOP PERFORMERS

• Morris Williams – 19 Points, 5-10 FG, 5-8 3FG, 4-8 FT, 3 Assists, 2 Reb
• JV Seat – 16 Points, 5-11 3FG, 2-6 3FG, 4-4 FT, 4 Steals, 3 Reb
• Zander Baker – 13 Points, 5-7 FG, 2-4 3FG, 4 Reb, 3 Steals
• Taiden Conner – 8 Points, 4-9 FG, 11 Reb, 6 Assists, 3 Steals

GAME SUMMARY

• First Half
  • Neither team was able to string together much of a run through the first six minutes as Brayden Chandler's midrange jumper with 15:14 on the clock briefly gave Ozark Christian a 7-5 advantage.
  • Mid-America Christian's defense clamped down over the next seven minutes as the Evangels strung together a 15-4 run as Zander Baker buried a long range three from the top of the key with 8:48 on the clock before Morris Williams knocked down one of two throws to make it 20-9 with just eight minutes left.
  • After trading blows over the next two minutes, Taiden Conner's fastbreak runout layup at the 5:45 mark ignited a 10-unanswered streak that Conner finished off himself with a layup off of Williams nice baseline dish on the runout to set the score to 36-16 with a tick under four minutes to go.
  • The Evangels gradually stretched their advantage to 47-22 after Hudson Linsenmeyer buried a pair of foul shots with five seconds left, but the Ambassadors got some of it back when Trey Main canned a deep buzzer-beating three from the right side to send the game into the half at 47-25.
• Second Half
  • The Ambassadors maintained their momentum to start the second half, opening the stanza with an 11-2 run to close the gap to 49-36 on Main's midrange jumper following a MACU turnover with 16:03 remaining, prompting MACU Head Coach Josh Gamblin to call a timeout.
  • The Evangels found their defensive fortitude once again following the huddle, holding OCC to only one field goal over the next seven minutes as MACU popped of a 17-4 streak that featured Baker getting a steal and fastbreak layup before Mike Carter Jr.'s theft and fastbreak relay to Baker again set up the breakaway and-one bucket to make it 66-40 with 11 minutes to go.
  • While Aaron Doria's steal and fastbreak lay-in briefly stopped the bleeding at the 9:37 mark, the Evangels continued to pull away as the Evangels rattled off nine-straight with Williams draining a fastbreak trey from the left side with 7:51 left to stretch the advantage to 75-42.
  • Doria once again snapped the run with a lay-in with just over seven minutes on the clock, but the Evangels scored the next eight over the next two minutes as JV Seat scored five on the run with his three-ball with five-and-a-half left giving MACU its largest lead of the conteset at 83-44.
  • The two sides traded five-point swings over the next three minutes as Colton Steinert broke into the stat sheet with his right-side three at the 2:13 mark capped MACU's scoring on the night at 88-49.
  • Ozark Christian scored the final six points over the last two minutes to ultimately wrap-up the 88-55 final.

GAME NOTES

• While Mid-America Christian didn't put up its strongest numbers on the offensive end, shooting just 27-for-65 (41.5 percent) from the field and 11-of-35 (31.4 percent) from three-point range, the Evangels did convert on 23-of-31 (74.2 percent) of their foul shots.
• The MACU defense held Ozark Christian to only 22-of-55 (40 percent) shooting and taking away the three-point game from an Ambassadors team that history takes and makes a lot of threes, with OCC making just 4-for-17 (23.5 percent) to go along with a paltry 7-of-14 (50 percent) from the charity stripe.
• The biggest difference in the contest came in the turnover battle as the Evangels forced the Ambassadors into 24 turnovers featuring 19 steals while MACU gave it away only 10 times, resulting in an astonishing 34-8 difference in points off turnovers.
• Those 19 steals matched the second-most for MACU as a team in its NAIA Era (2007-Present) record book, matching the mark set in a 111-73 victory against Bacone (Okla.) on Nov. 5, 2013. The only other time the Evangels came up with more steals in the last 20 years came in a 100-59 win at Randall on Nov. 16, 2023.
• Even though MACU only held a 42-36 edge on the glass, the Evangels were opportunistic on the offensive end, coming up with 17 offensive boards to only 10 for the Ambassadors.
• All-Sooner Athletic Conference First Team forward Morris Williams picked up right where he left off last season by scoring a game-high 19 points on 5-of-8 shooting from behind the arc while converting on 4-of-8 from the line to go with three assists.
• JV Seat also shined in his MACU Men's Basketball debut, finishing the contest with 16 points on 5-of-11 from the field and 2-for-6 from three while netting a perfect 4-for-4 from the stipe to go with a team-high four steals and three rebounds.
• Zander Baker was MACU's spark plug off the bench, scoring 13 points on a highly efficient 5-of-7 shooting, going 2-for-4 from range, while adding four rebounds, three assists, and three steals to his stat line.
• Coming off a redshirt season, senior guard Taiden Conner put up incredible numbers while just missing out on a double-double. The 5-10 guard ripped down a game-high 11 rebounds while scoring eight points on 4-of-9 shooting. Conner also dished out a game-high six assists while committing just one turnover and added three steals to his floor game.
• Overall, all 16 members of MACU's varsity squad got to compete in the contest with 10 players ending up in the scoring column.
• With the win, MACU improved to 13-0 all-time against the Ambassadors since the 2003-04 season with six of those wins coming in each of the last six seasons.

UP NEXT

• For the second-straight year, Mid-America Christian will face off against Arlington Baptist on Homecoming Saturday as tip-off is slated for 4 p.m. inside the Gaulke Activity Center.