From MACU Sports Information
Levi Convirs, Sports Information Director
OKLAHOMA CITY — The No. 5-ranked Southwestern Assemblies of God University Lions exploded for 10 threes in the second half and needed every one of them to slip past the No. 14-ranked Mid-America Christian University Evangels 95-94 in an intense NAIA Top 25 showdown Saturday afternoon (Feb. 15) inside the Gaulke Activity Center.
A three by Caleb Gentry snapped a 79-79 tie and gave the Lions the lead for good with 6:07 left, but the Evangels refused to go quietly and made things interesting down the stretch.
Down seven with 4:17 left, the Evangels scored six straight to come within one at the 2:18 mark.
But each time the Evangels got close, the Lions had an answer, this time on a three by Emmanuel Adoyi that stretched the lead to two possessions at 90-86.
After Jarius Wilson made two free throws to cut the lead to two, Gentry came right back and answered with two freebies of his own to make it 92-88 with 25 seconds left.
Semar Farris then brought the Evangels within one point at 92-91 by nailing a tough three from the corner with 11 seconds left.
Following two free throws by Jonathan Walter that put the Lions up three, the Evangels misfired on a three and one free throw by Walter put it away.
Stephen Armstrong hit a long three at the buzzer to create the final one-point margin.
The Evangels (14-8,10-6 SAC) appeared to have things in control when Farris scored to cap a 7-0 spurt that put them up 62-50 at the 15:08 mark of the second half.
But that’s when Tyler Guidry and Dominique Rambo went to work, combining for all 15-0 points of a 15-3 run, including consecutive threes by Guidry that tied the score at 65-65 with 12:21 left.
The Evangels led by nine at the 7:39 point of the first half and then 36-29 when Rambo scored six to lead a 13-2 push that SAGU in front 42-38.
MACU then outscored the Lions 11-2 over the final two minutes of the period to take a 49-44 lead at the break on a three by Farris and a buzzer-beating three by Armstrong.
Farris produced another solid, all-around game of 32 points, six assists, five rebounds and two steals. The Evangels also got a career-high 22 points from Josh Minner and 14 each from Armstrong and Wilson. Josh Smith recorded seven boards for the Evangels.
Rambo led five Lions (22-3, 14-2 SAC) in double-figures with 24 points. Gentry had 19 and Guidry scored 18, hitting all four of his three-point attempts. Walter added 16 points an Adoyi scored 12 along with a team-high nine rebounds.
The Evangels controlled the boards to a tune of 41-29 overall and 18-10 on the offensive glass.
Both offenses clicked on all cylinders, with the Evangels shooting 52.2 percent (36-of-69) and the Lions a tick better at 53 percent (35-of-66).
The Lions overall hit 15-of-30 from three-point distance and the Evangels were 8-of-19, but only 2-of-9 from the perimeter in the second half.
The Evangels will look to snap their three-game losing skid next Thursday night (Feb. 20) at home against John Brown University at 8 p.m. inside the Gaulke Activity Center.
