Men's Basketball Adam Stanek - MACU Sports Information

Gamblin Wins 200th Game, MACU Defensively Stifles Stars

OKLAHOMA CITY – In his 10th year with the program, Mid-America Christian Men's Basketball head coach Josh Gamblin notched his 200th career win in dominant fashion inside the Gaulke Activity Center on Saturday afternoon as the Evangels held Oklahoma City to a season-low in scoring as MACU came away with the 69-48 victory.
 
TOP PERFORMERS
  • Keeshawn Mason – 20 Points, 9-13 FG, 2-3 FT, 12 Reb, 3 Blocks, 2 Assists
  • Tarrence Gaines – 17 Points, 6-9 FG, 5-7 3FG, 3 Reb, 2 Blocks
  • Juwan White – 14 Points, 6-14 FG, 4 Reb, 3 Assists, 2 Steals, 2 Blocks
  • Quentin Woodson – 8 Points, 4-4 FG, 6 Reb, 2 Assists
GAME SUMMARY
  • First Half
    • Mid-America Christian (16-5, 12-5 SAC) and Oklahoma City (10-11, 6-11 SAC) went back and forth through the first three minutes as a pair of Keeshawn Mason free throws with 17:16 to go gave MACU a brief advantage. On the ensuing possession, Beau Tranter's lay-in ignited a nine-unanswered run for the Stars as Nick Bonifay's three-ball with 14:21 remaining made it a 13-6 OCU lead.
    • Despite OCU's electric start, the MACU defense clamped down over the next nine minutes, holding the Stars scoreless during the stretch as Mason and Juwan White combined to score 12 points in a 14-0 streak capped off on Quentin Woodson's layup with 7:38 to go.
    • Tranter knocked down a three with five-and-a-half remaining to snap OCU's 8:51 scoreless streak before answered back with Mason hitting a fallaway jumper from the right side before Marque Wilkerson knocked down a pair of foul shots with 4:08 left, stretching the Evangels' edge to 24-16.
    • Oklahoma City closed it to a one-possession game at 24-21 with 1:39 left on a Clayton Jewell three from the right wing and a Tranter take to the bucket, but MACU finished the half strong, wrapping up the half with eight-straight. Tarrence Gaines was responsible for six of the eight on a pair of deep threes, the last coming at the buzzer to send the Evangels into the half with the 32-21 advantage.
  • Second Half
    •  Yorgio Golesis for the Stars cut it down to a one-possession game on the first possession of the half, but MACU swung back with seven-unanswered as Gaines drained another three from the left corner with 17:53 remaining to set the score to 39-24.
    • Following a James Cloud triple at the 15:57 mark, MACU surged away behind a 17-7 run over the next four minutes with Gaines burying yet another three with 11:36 left to extend the edge to 56-34.
    • After another Cloud score, Mid-America Christian captured its largest lead of the contest on a pair of Wilkerson finger roll layups, the last coming with 9:52 to go, setting the score to 60-36.
    • The Stars made one last surge by scoring eight-straight with Cloud and Jewell combining on the scores as Jewell's muscled lay-in closed it to a 60-44 game with 7:43 remaining.
    • With Mason and Jewell trading the next two scores, Mid-America Christian all but put the game away by scoring the next seven over the next four minutes with Mason hooking in another lay-in with 1:49 left to wrap-up the MACU scoring at 69-46.
    • Lawrence Taylor Jr.'s jumper with 1:30 to go closed out the scoring in the contest as MACU walked away with the 69-48 victory.
GAME NOTES
  • While it was a quiet night for Mid-America Christian from the three-point arc, shooting only 6-for-22 (27.3 percent) and 7-of-11 (63.6 percent) from the free throw line, the Evangels were strong attacking the paint, going 28-for-64 (43.8 percent) from the field as a whole.
  • The MACU defense held Oklahoma City to a season-low 48 points on a season-worst 19-of-60 (31.7 percent) shooting, including 6-for-21 (28.6 percent) from three while the Stars finished only 4-of-9 (44.4 percent) from the free throw line.
  • Mid-America Christian held a 44-37 lead in the rebounding department while forcing OCU into 16 turnovers while MACU committed just 11, resulting in a 21-9 differential in points off takeaways.
  • The Evangels also dominated the painted area, out-scoring the Stars by an astounding 42-20 margin.
  • A big reason for MACU holding Oklahoma City to its season-worst shooting output was its downright dominant shot blocking as the 10 blocked shots by the entire team set the program's NAIA Era (2007-present) single game blocked shots record. The Evangels notched nine blocks in three previous games, the last coming in an 82-47 win over Oklahoma Panhandle State inside the Gaulke last season on Jan. 27.
  • Keeshawn Mason put together one of his best career performances in an Evangels uniform, turning a game-high 20 points on 9-for-13 shooting while notching his first double-double of the season with a career-best 12 rebounds to go with three blocked shots.
  • Tarrence Gaines was downright lethal from distance, finishing with 17 points on 6-of-9 from the field, going 5-for-7 from three-point range to go with three boards and a pair of blocks.
  • Juwan White rounded out MACU's double-digit scorers with 14 points on 6-for-14 from the field while plugging the stats with four rebounds, three assists, two steals and a pair of blocked shots.
  • Quentin Woodson and Marque Wilkerson put together solid games for the Evangels with each tallying eight points. Woodson was a perfect 4-for-4 from the floor to go with six rebounds while Wilkerson was 2-of-4 shooting and 4-for-5 from the line, notching four boards and three steals.
  • With the victory, MACU has completed the season sweep over OCU after defeating the Stars 69-58 inside Abe Lemons Arena back on Dec. 14.
  • In his 10th season at the helm, Josh Gamblin has put together an incredible resume on his way to 200 career wins. Currently owning a 200-103 (.660) career record, Gamblin has led MACU over the years to an NAIA National Championship in 2016 as well as a Sooner Athletic Conference Championship in 2020.
  • The Evangels are staying within the hunt for capturing a second SAC title under Gamblin as MACU moved into the No. 3 spot in the league standings with the win and sit just a game back of Nelson and Wayland Baptist (13-4) for the top spot.
UP NEXT
  • Mid-America Christian will wrap-up its five-game home stand on Thursday as the Evangels host John Brown for an 8 p.m. tip-off inside the Gaulke on White Out Night.