South OKC News

The MACU men's basketball team battled one of the top teams in the Sooner Athletic Conference tough in its Senior Day game inside the Gaulke Activity Center on Saturday, but the Evangels saw their season come to an end in a 79-72 defeat to the Stars.

 

TOP PERFORMERS

• DaRaun Clark – 27 Points, 10-16 FG, 5-6 FT, 3 Reb
• Conner Calavan – 12 Points, 4-8 FG, 4-6 3FG, 2 Reb
• Trevonte Doolittle – 11 Points, 4-9 FG, 2-5 3FG, 5 Assists, 4 Reb

GAME SUMMARY

• First Half
  • Oklahoma City (16-12, 14-8 SAC) was red-hot through the first nine minutes as the Stars jumped out to a 19-7 lead on Brandon Jackson's three from the left wing with 11:57 left.
  • Conner Calavan sparked a Mid-America Christian (11-17, 8-14 SAC) comeback with a deep, contested three from the left wing on the ensuing possession as the Evangels put together a 12-2 run capped off on Trevonte Doolittle's triple at the top of the key to make it a 21-19 game with 6:28 to go.
  • OCU's Kori Guest and Doolittle traded three-pointers over the next minute to keep it to a two-point game, but the Stars closed out the half on a 10-5 run as Dravon Clayborn bucket with 13 seconds remaining sent Oklahoma City into the half with the 34-27 advantage.
• Second Half
  • A Tarrence Gaines offensive rebound and putback followed by a pair of Quentin Woodson free throws on the following possession with 16:33 left trimmed the Evangels' deficit to 38-35, but a string of eight-straight Stars points over the next three minutes allowed OCU to build a 46-35 advantage with 13:33 to go.
  • After a DaRaun Clark bucket, the Stars swelled their lead out to its largest by scoring eight of the next 11 with Clayborn's free throws at the 11:04 mark making it a 54-40 game.
  • Clark scored six in a row for MACU to close the gap to single-digits, but another OCU 10-4 run pushed the Stars advantage back out to 14 at 64-50 on Avery Jackson's steal and layup with 6:43 remaining.
  • The Evangels again clawed back by scoring nine of the next 11 as Clark went coast-to-coast on a fastbreak layup off a rebound with just under four minutes left to make it a 66-60 contest.
  • The closest MACU was able to cut it the rest of the way was five at 75-70 on Clark's deep three-bomb from the left wing with 36 seconds to go, but the Evangels came up empty on its next offensive possession as OCU put the game away from the charity stripe to wrap-up the 79-72 final.

GAME NOTES

• As a team, Mid-America Christian shot 25-for-61 (41 percent) while going 10-of-30 (33.3 percent) from three and 12-for-18 (66.7 percent) from the free throw line while Oklahoma City outdueled MACU by knocking down 24-of-53 (45.3 percent) from the field. While OCU was held to just 7-for-24 (29.2 percent) from downtown, the Stars took advantage of their opportunities from the line by tallying 24-for-30 (80 percent).
• Both teams took good care of the basketball with each team finishing with just 11 turnovers, but the Stars held a slight edge on the glass as OCU outrebounded MACU 40-36.
• MACU struggled to slow down OCU's balanced offensive attack as five Stars finished in double-figures, led by Dravon Clayborn with 18 points.
• DaRaun Clark broke out of an offensive slump in a big way by scoring a game-high 27 points on 10-of-16 shooting, going 2-for-7 from three and 5-of-6 from the free throw line.
• Conner Calavan also provided a strong spark off the MACU bench, finishing with 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting from three-point range.
• Trevonte Doolittle was the lone MACU starter to crack into double-digit scoring, finishing with 11 points on 4-for-9 from the floor and 2-of-5 from three while dishing out a team-high five assists to go with four boards.
• The Stars contained two of MACU's top scorers in Eylan Goodwyn and Seth Hurd, who combined to score just 10 points on 4-of-15 shooting.
• Tarrence Gaines led MACU on the glass with seven rebounds to go with nine points on 3-of-7 from the field, including 2-for-5 from three.
• Oklahoma City swept the season series from MACU after defeating the Evangels 92-68 in El Reno, Okla. back on Jan. 14.
• By suffering the loss, Mid-America Christian was eliminated from Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament contention, ending MACU's 10-year run of qualifying for the league's postseason tourney. By also finishing with an 11-17 overall record, the year marked the first time the program had finished a season with an under .500 record since the 2010-11 campaign.
• Prior to the start of the contest, Mid-America Christian honored its lone graduating senior in Trevonte Doolittle.
• After going through a rebuilding year, the Evangels will look to continue building toward the future as MACU enters the off-season.

Original source can be found here