OKLAHOMA CITY – The MACU Men's Basketball team was tested by College of the Ozarks, but for the second-straight game, the Evangels put together a strong second half surge to pull away with the 78-68 victory inside the Gaulke Activity Center on Saturday evening.
 
SCORE

• Mid-America Christian 78, College of the Ozarks 68
  • Mid-America Christian (15-6, 9-6 SAC)
  • College of the Ozarks (8-13, 5-10 SAC)

TOP PERFORMERS

• Morris Williams – 25 Points, 9-12 FG, 2-5 3FG, 5-6 FT, 6 Reb, 2 Assists
• Zander Baker – 13 Points, 4-6 FG, 4-5 3FG, 3 Reb, 2 Assists
• Clance Crosby – 12 Points, 5-8 FG, 2-2 FT, 3 Reb
• Shannon Strickland – 9 Points, 4-7 FG, 6 Reb, 5 Assists

GAME SUMMARY

• First Half
  • Mid-America Christian came out firing on all cylinders right out of the gate as the Evangels scored the first 10 points with Zander Baker burying a pair of threes to make it a 10-0 advantage at the 16:55 mark.
  • After COFO's Andrew Dalton and Clance Crosby traded buckets on back-to-back possessions, College of the Ozarks started to chisel away the MACU edge as Brady Reynolds bucket and a pair of triples by Garrett Snyder and Jay Baxter allowed the Bobcats to close it to 12-10 with 13:45 to go.
  • Despite being held in-check offensively over the last few minutes, Demerius Shakur reignited the Evangels offense by draining a three on the ensuing possession, jumpstarting a 10-0 MACU streak capped off on Shannon Strickland's lay-in with 11 minutes to go, making it a 22-10 contest.
  • The Evangels struggled to generate much offense over the next five minutes as COFO slowly closed the gap to 24-22 on a DJ Quarles three from the top of the key with 6:37 remaining.
  • Morris Williams answered with a three of his own on the following possession to push it back out to a five-point advantage, however, both teams went ice cold over the next five minutes as both sides only scored four points with Crosby hooking in the last MACU score with 1:49 left to set the score to 31-26.
  • The Bobcats scored the final four points on a Quarles midrange jumper at the 39 second mark before Baxter tapped in a last second lob pass from the baseline to send MACU into the break with just a 31-30 advantage.
• Second Half
  • The Bobcats took their only lead of the game right out of the gate when Garrett Snyder finished off an and-one lay-in in the middle of the paint just 23 seconds in to make it a 33-31 COFO edge.
  • With 18:55 to go, James Locke popped a three from the right corner to jumpstart another 10-0 MACU streak as Williams euro-stepped into the paint to finish it off with a finger roll lay-in to make it a 41-33 Evangels' edge with 17:19 left.
  • After Garrett Snyder and Williams traded buckets on back-to-back possessions, but teams struggled to find the bottom of the net over a four-minute stretch, as the Bobcats scored six of the next seven with four points coming to the foul line. Tyler Moore made one-of-two from the stripe at the 12:37 mark to close it to a one-possession game at 44-41.
  • Strickland snapped MACU's 4:02 field goal-less streak by powering in an and-one bucket with 12:23 to go, but the Bobcats answer back by scoring seven of the next nine as Wilson's triple with 10-and-a-half left cut it to a one-point game at 49-48.
  • The MACU defense locked in over the next four-minute stretch as Strickland's lay-in on the following possession jumpstarted a dominant 13-2 run finished off on Locke's long ball at the 7:11 mark to make it a 62-50 lead.
  • The Bobcats followed suit by scoring eight of the next 12 with Baxter burying a three-pointer with 5:25 remaining being the last time COFO cut the MACU advantage to single-digits at 66-58.
  • Williams and Corey Skillman combined to score six of the next seven to stretch the MACU lead to its largest at 72-59 with 3:37 left. The Evangels cruised the rest of the way as both teams traded blows down the stretch before eventually closing out the 78-68 result.

GAME NOTES

• Mid-America Christian continued its stellar shooting inside the Gaulke as the Evangels finished 30-for-56 (53.6 percent) from the field, draining 9-of-22 (40.9 percent) from three-point range and converted on 9-of-12 (75 percent) of their free throw attempts.
• College of the Ozarks still managed to shoot for a decent percentage against MACU's defense, shooting 23-for-52 (44.2 percent) and making 7-of-21 (33.3 percent) from range. The Bobcats were highly efficient from the stripe, converting on 15-of-18 (83.3 percent).
• MACU seized a slight 32-27 lead on the glass as both sides came up with eight offensive boards while both teams took care of the basketball as well, each giving it away nine times in the contest.
• Morris Williams led MACU's offensive efforts by putting together one of his best shooting performances of the season, finishing with a game-high 25 points on 9-of-12 shooting, going a perfect 7-for-7 from inside the arc and 2-for-5 from three-point range. Williams also converted on 5-of-6 from the stripe to go with six boards and a pair of assists.
• Coming into the contest on a bit of a cold spell from three-point range, making just six of his last 36 three-point shots, Zander Baker found his stroke from long distance by burying a career-high 4-for-5 from range to finish with 13 points while adding three rebounds and two assists to his floor game.
• Clance Crosby rounded out MACU's double-digit scorers on the night, closing with 12 points on 5-of-8 from the field and 2-for-2 from the stripe, adding three rebounds to the mix as well.
• Shannon Strickland continued to make in impact in multiple facets of the game. Not only did the senior guard score nine points on 4-of-7 shooting and tied a team-high six rebounds, but he also finished with a stellar five assists to only one turnover to add to his team assist lead.
• By getting the victory, MACU has extended its win streak to four over College of the Ozarks since becoming a Sooner Athletic Conference member in 2024. The result also marked the first time the Evangels defeated the Bobcats by double-figures since getting an 81-70 win at the NCCAA National Championships on Mar. 15, 2018 in Winona Lake, Indiana.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will have a short turnaround as the Evangels set their sights on Southwestern Christian on Monday with the Eagles making their way to the Gaulke for a 7 p.m. tipoff.