PLAINVIEW, Texas – The MACU Men's Basketball team had its chances to spoil Wayland Baptist's Senior Day on Saturday, rallying from nine points down at the halftime break, but the Evangels committed a couple costly mistakes in the final minute that allowed the Pioneers to put the game away from the free throw line and escape with the 82-78 win inside the Hutcherson Center.
 
SCORE

• Wayland Baptist 82, Mid-America Christian 78
  • Mid-America Christian (19-9, 13-9 SAC)
  • Wayland Baptist (22-6, 16-6 SAC)

TOP PERFORMERS

• Morris Williams – 28 Points, 10-17 FG, 5-9 3FG, 3-3 FT, 2 Reb, 2 Assists
• Shannon Strickland – 19 Points, 7-16 FG, 3-6 3FG, 2-2 FT, 3 Assists, 2 Steals
• Corey Skillman – 12 Points, 3-7 FG, 5-5 FT, 4 Assists, 3 Reb, 2 Steals
• Clance Crosby – 8 Points, 4-4 FG, 10 Reb

GAME SUMMARY

• First Half
  • Shannon Strickland had the hot hand in the early going for Mid-America Christian, popping a pair of treys to give MACU the 6-2 edge with 17:41 on the clock. While Wayland Baptist scored the next five to take its first lead, Strickland answered back with a midrange jumper to put the Evangels back in-front 8-7 with 16:36 to go.
  • Both teams struggled offensively over the next three minutes with neither side scoring before a Dylan McDougal long ball with 13:22 remaining fired up a 12-4 Pioneers run over the next five-and-a-half minutes with Marcus Green burying a jumper with eight minutes left to make it 19-12.
  • The Evangels swung back with a 10-unanswered streak of their own as Corey Skillman scored six of those points by converting 3-of-3 from the free throw line before knocking down a trey with 5:25 to go to put MACU back in the lead at 22-19.
  • Julian Perez caught fire for the Pioneers over the next minute, scoring the next five WBU points to spark a massive surge over the final five-and-half as it closed out by holding MACU to just two field goals down the stretch as the 17-5 run allowed the Pioneers to take a 36-27 advantage heading into the half.
• Second Half
  • Mid-America Christian immediately went to work to close the gap right out of the gate as Strickland splashed a three and Clance Crosby scored inside in the first minute to jumpstart a 15-6 surge capped off by Crosby to tie the game at 42-all with just under 15 minutes to go.
  • While a pair of Jamauri Lawrence foul shots at the 14:23 mark briefly put the Pioneers back in-front, Morris Williams sparked an 8-2 MACU streak by splashing a three on the ensuing possession before Manuel Zapater scooped in a layup with 12:15 on the clock to make it a 52-46 Evangels lead.
  • After both teams traded four-point runs around the midway point, a pair of treys from McDougal and Green with just under nine minutes left shifted the moment back Wayland's way as Perez ended the 12-4 surge with another trey to put the Pioneers back in-front 62-60 with 7:13 left.
  • While MACU's defense held the Pioneers without a field goal over the next four minutes, WBU hung around by converting eight free throws before Perez's jumper at the three-minute mark made it a 72-70 WBU advantage.
  • A pair of Skillman free throws with two-and-a-half to go tied it up once again, but Brett Leach's trey with 2:17 on the clock gave WBU the lead once again before extended the edge to four from the foul line at 78-74 with 1:14 to go.
  • The Evangels closed the gap to two on two more occasions with James Locke converting a pair of throws of his own before Skillman once again made it a two-point game with a midrange jumper following a pair of Jordan Logan free throws to make it an 80-78 contest with 24 seconds to go.
  • The Pioneers left the door open when Lawrence made only one of two free throws three seconds later to keep it a one-possession game, but a costly turnover by the Evangels with 11 seconds left didn't give them the chance to force up the potential game-tying shot.
  • With MACU forced to foul on the in-bound, Chuks Ejiofor converted on one-of-two throws to ultimately seal the 82-78 win for the Pioneers.

GAME NOTES

• Overall, Mid-America Christian put together a solid shooting performance on the road, going 28-for-59 (47.5 percent) from the field and made 9-of-26 (34.6 percent) from three-point range while efficiently converting on 13-for-16 (81.3 percent) from the free throw line.
• While the Evangels managed to outshoot the Pioneers with Wayland Baptist going 23-of-52 (44.2 percent) from the floor and 10-for-26 (38.5 percent) from three, WBU did its damage from the free throw line by converting 26-of-31 (81.3 percent).
• Wayland Baptist controlled the glass, out-rebounding the Evangels 36-23 with an 11-5 edge on the offensive glass, but resulting in only an 10-7 advantage in second chance points.
• MACU won the turnover battle by forcing 16 giveaways while committing only 11 of its own, giving the Evangels the 16-11 edge in points off turnovers.
• Despite being held to only two points in the first half, Morris Williams nearly willed the Evangels to a victory in the second half, finishing with his second-highest point total of the season with 28 on 10-of-17 shooting, going 5-for-9 from three-point range and went 3-for-3 from the charity stripe.
• Shannon Strickland also came up big for MACU, tying his career-high with 19 points on 7-of-16 from the floor and going 3-for-6 from three-point range to go along with three assists.
• Corey Skillman was the only other Evangel to break into double-figures, netting 12 points while shooting 3-of-7 from the field and 5-for-5 from the line while dishing out four assists.
• Despite dealing with some foul trouble, Clance Crosby narrowly missed a double-double by scoring eight points on 4-for-4 from the floor while yanking down a team-high 10 rebounds.
• Zander Baker led MACU's distribution efforts with a season-high five assists with one turnover to go along with a pair of thefts.
• With the result, the Evangels split the season series with the Pioneers after getting a 79-66 win inside the Gaulke back on Jan. 8.
• At the close of the regular season, MACU finished sixth in the Sooner Athletic Conference with a 13-9 league mark and will enter the SAC Tournament as the No. 6 seed.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will be rematched with Wayland Baptist in the Quarterfinal Round of the SAC Tournament being hosted in Abe Lemons Arena in the coming week. MACU will play the Pioneers on Wednesday, Feb. 26 with the contest slated for a 7 p.m. first tip.