OKLAHOMA CITY – The MACU Men's Basketball team went toe-to-toe against No. 9 Langston inside a raucous Gaulke Activity Center on Thursday night, but the Evangels were unable to hold off a massive second half run by the Lions as MACU fell 73-51.
 
SCORE

• Langston 73, Mid-America Christian 51
  • Mid-America Christian (16-7, 10-7 SAC)
  • Langston (18-4, 13-3 SAC)

TOP PERFORMERS

• Shannon Strickland – 12 Points, 2-7 FG, 2-4 3FG, 6-8 FT, 3 Reb
• Clay Baldwin – 10 Points, 2-7 FG, 2-4 3FG, 4-4 FT, 2 Reb, 2 Assists, 2 Steals
• Morris Williams – 7 Points, 3-6 FG, 4 Reb, 2 Assists

GAME SUMMARY

• First Half
  • It was back-and-forth between the two sides through the first four-plus minutes as Morris Williams drained a step-back three from the left side with 15:53 to go to tie the game at 5-5.
  • While Langston scored seven of the next 10 to briefly grab back a 12-8 lead, Clay Baldwin buried a trey before Manuel Zapater made a powerful move in the paint to put Mid-America Christian in-front 13-12 with 12:25 remaining.
  • Both teams went blow-for-blow over the next three minutes with neither side seizing larger than a three-point lead until a Zapater tip-in with 9:28 left ignited a 6-0 MACU surge capped off on Williams' lay-in at the 6:43 mark to make it a 23-19 Evangels advantage.
  • On the ensuing possession, Tajahri Cave's layup snapped a three-and-a-half-minute scoreless spell for Langston as the Lions went on a 9-0 streak with Cam McCoy's tip back with 4:34 left giving LU the 28-23 edge.
  • After being held scoreless for nearly four minutes, Williams picked Orlando Thomas' pocket and went coast-to-coast for the fastbreak slam to snap MACU's scoreless streak at the 2:50 mark, closing it to a one-possession game at 28-25.
  • However, MACU was unable to come up with another bucket the rest of the way as Antonio Lewis' three-ball with 1:26 remaining was the only other score going into the break with Langston leading 31-25.
• Second Half
  • Clance Crosby made his impact felt through the first three-and-a-half minutes, scoring six of MACU's first eight points while keeping the Evangels close as they trailed just 38-33 at the 16:33 mark.
  • However, an Omar Henry lay-in on the ensuing possession jumpstarted a 9-0 Lions run as Lewis' strong take to the basket extended the LU advantage to 47-33 with 14:11 remaining.
  • A Zapater layup and Baldwin trey from the corner briefly cut MACU's deficit down to single-digits at 47-38 with 12:47 to go, but Langston countered with a powerful 13-1 surge as Trey Clarke's triple at the 6:51 mark extended the Langston advantage to 60-39.
  • Strickland took over the scoring for MACU over the next minute as he canned a pair of free throws and snapped a 6:40 stretch without a field goal by burying a fastbreak three from the left wing with 6:07 remaining to cut it to a 60-44 contest.
  • The Evangels were unable to cut the deficit to less than 16 the rest of the way as the Lions ultimately pulled away with the 73-51 victory.

GAME NOTES

• The result marked Mid-America Christian's second-lowest scoring output of the season as the Evangels shot 15-for-41 (36.6 percent) from the field, including 5-of-20 (25 percent) from behind the arc while shooting a solid 16-for-21 (76.2 percent) from the free throw line.
• In a game with few possessions, Langston took advantage of its opportunities, going 26-of-51 (51 percent) from the field, 9-for-20 (45 percent) from three-point range, which allowed the Lions to overcome just a 12-of-19 (63.2 percent) clip from the charity stripe.
• Langston controlled the glass, out-rebounding MACU 33-22 with an 11-5 edge on the offensive glass, resulting in a crucial 19-2 difference in second chance points.
• Shannon Strickland and Clay Baldwin were the lone Evangels to finish with double-figure points with 12 and 10 respectively. However, both players were held to only 2-of-7 shooting while each knocked down 2-of-4 from three. Strickland went 6-of-8 from the free throw line while Baldwin went a perfect 4-for-4.
• Even though two of MACU's top scorers in Morris Williams and Clance Crosby were held to only seven points apiece, both were effective in their few opportunities as Williams shot 3-for-6 from the field and led the team with four boards while Crosby went 2-for-2 from the field and converted 3-for-5 from the stripe.
• With the defeat, the Evangels split the regular season series with Langston after MACU came away with a 69-65 win over the Lions inside the Paycom Center on Dec. 6.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will seek a bounce back on Saturday as the Evangels take on Central Christian for a 4 p.m. tip-off inside Jerry E. Alexander Arena in McPherson, Kansas.