MCPHERSON, Kan. – The MACU Men's Basketball team managed to stave off a late Central Christian rally as Corey Skillman sank a pair of clutch shots in the final minute to propel the Evangels to a 73-69 victory inside Jerry Alexander Arena on Saturday evening.
 
SCORE

• Mid-America Christian 73, Central Christian 69
  • Mid-America Christian (17-7, 11-7 SAC)
  • Central Christian (9-14, 4-13 SAC)

TOP PERFORMERS

• Morris Williams – 16 Points, 6-13 FG, 4-7 3FG, 5 Reb, 2 Assists
• Clance Crosby – 14 Points, 5-7 FG, 4-8 FT, 4 Reb
• Corey Skillman – 12 Points, 4-7 FG, 2-3 3FG, 2-2 FT, 4 Reb, 3 Assists
• Shannon Strickland – 9 Points, 2-3 FG, 4-4 FT, 4 Reb, 2 Assists

GAME SUMMARY

• First Half
  • Central Christian came out firing on all cylinders through the first two minutes as Chris Whitten scooped in the fastbreak layup with 18:10 left to give the Tigers the early 6-0 advantage.
  • At the 16:58 mark, Clance Crosby finally put Mid-America Christian on the board by powering in the lay-in off the Shannon Strickland dish before Manuel Zapater canned one of two foul shots with 15 minutes to go to cut the Evangels deficit in-half at 6-3.
  • After Michael Doria buried a three to extend the CCCK lead to 9-3 with just over 14 minutes remaining, both teams went blow-for-blow before the Tigers put together a big run near the midway point. Starting with Jevarrick Butler's contested midrange jumper from the right elbow with 11:13 on the clock, CCCK scored eight of the next 10 points to secure a 21-11 advantage 8:48 left.
  • With seven-and-a-half left, Morris Williams lit a fire under the Evangels by draining a three from the left corner, jumpstarting a 10-1 with three triples as his long ball from the top of the key with 5:28 to go closed it to a 22-21 game.
  • Even though CCCK's Andre Cooper canned a trey on the following possession, Williams answered right back with his fourth triple in less than three minutes as scored the next seven with Strickland burying a pair of throws with 3:27 remaining to stretch the MACU edge to 28-25.
  • Cooper scooped in a left-handed layup with three minutes left to cut it to a one-point game, but MACU closed out the half by scoring nine of the final 13 points as Zander Baker banked in a running floater to beat the halftime buzzer, sending the Evangels into the break with the 37-31 advantage.
• Second Half
  • Corey Skillman scored the first five points for MACU through the first minute of the second stanza to briefly extend the Evangels' edge to 42-33 before a Butler trey and an Andruw Rondon lay-in cut it down to 42-38 with 18:07 remaining.
  • It was tough sledding for both teams offensively over the next five minutes, but James Locke's jumper from the foul line with just over 14 minutes to go jumpstarted an 8-2 MACU surge as Clay Baldwin buried a long ball from the right wing at the 12:33 mark to extend the edge to 53-42.
  • After Butler and Locke exchanged threes on back-to-back possessions, the Tigers defense buckled down over the next four minutes, holding MACU to without a field goal during an 8-1 run as Cooper canned another trey with 8:17 left to close it to a 57-53 game.
  • Taiden Conner snapped MACU's cold spell with a strong take down the right side with eight minutes left, but the Tigers slowly managed to knock the Evangels' lead down to only two at 61-59 on Butler's trey at the 4:43 mark.
  • A pair of Crosby buckets extended the lead back to 65-60 with three minutes on the clock, but Central Christian continued to hang in, closing it to a one-point game after Chris Whitten was fouled on a three-point shot, knocking down all three throws to bring it to 66-65 with 1:50 to go.
  • Once again, Crosby pushed the lead out to three with a flush off a strong Skillman dime, but on the ensuing possession, Cooper was held on a cut, drawing the foul, and stepping to the line for a pair to bring it to 68-67.
  • With the shot clock winding down, Baker found Skillman on the right side as he buried the shot clock beating three-ball to push the edge back out to 71-67.
  • After Chris Whitten knocked down two more foul shots for CCCK with 39 seconds left, it was Skillman once again beating the shot clock by hitting a turnaround jumper with eight seconds left to seal the 73-69 win.

GAME NOTES

• Mid-America Christian put together a strong shooting performance on the road, going 25-for-53 (47.2 percent) from the field, including 12-of-24 (50 percent) from three-point range to overcome an 11-for-19 (57.9 percent) outing from the line.
• While Central Christian shot a solid 43.5 percent from the floor, the Tigers struggled from range, going 7-of-20 (35 percent). However, CCCK took advantage of its opportunities from the charity stripe, finishing 22-for-27 (81.5 percent).
• The Evangels controlled the glass, out-rebounding the Tigers 33-30 with an 8-4 edge on the offensive glass, resulting in a crucial 11-3 difference in second chance scoring. CCCK won the turnover battle, forcing 12 MACU giveaways while committing only nine, giving the Tigers the 11-8 edge in points off turnovers.
• Morris Williams led MACU on the offensive end, scoring all 16 of his points in the first half while finishing 6-for-13 from the field, including 4-of-7 from three-point range to go with a team-high five rebounds.
• Clance Crosby controlled the paint by scoring 14 points on 5-for-7 shooting, going 4-of-8 from the line to go along with four boards.2-
• Corey Skillman did most of MACU's offensive damage in the second half, finishing with 12 points while shooting 4-for-7 from the floor, 2-of-3 from three, and 2-for-2 from the line to go along with four rebounds and a team-high three assists.
• Shannon Strickland turned in nine points, taking advantage of his limited opportunities by going 2-for-3 from the field, making his lone three-point attempt and went 4-for-4 from the stripe with four rebounds and two assists.
• By getting the victory, MACU swept the season series against Central Christian after the Evangels came away with an 83-75 victory inside the Gaulke Activity Center on Dec. 4.
• With the win and John Brown's loss at Wayland Baptist, the Evangels have officially locked up no worse than the No. 6 seed in the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament. With four games left in league play, the Evangels currently sit in sixth with only three games separating third and sixth place.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will be back on the road on Thursday night as the Evangels travel to Waxahachie, Texas for an 8 p.m. contest against SAC leader No. 8 Nelson inside the Sheaffer Center.