Evangels Cruise To NCCAA Regional Semis

The Mid-America Christian University Evangels dominated the Central Christian College Tigers 79-53 to move on to the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) Central Regional semifinals Thursday evening on the campus of Oklahoma Christian University in Oklahoma City.

The Evangels will face the second-seeded Colorado Christian University Tigers at 3:30 p.m. on Friday.

MACU led throughout but really took control when Josh Smith hit a jumper to ignite a 7-0 push and a three-point play by Reggie Davis gave the Evangels a 29-17 lead at the 6:55 mark of the opening half.

It was a 31-22 edge when the Evangels pulled away even further by ripping off the next 13 points to balloon the lead to 21 with 28 seconds left in the half.

The Evangels went on to a 46-23 lead over the Tigers at the break.

MACU continued the onslaught in the second half with a 6-0 spurt out of the locker room for their biggest lead to that point of 52-23.

After the Tigers scored eight straight to cut the lead to 20 and eventually came as close as 19 on a trey by Dustin Rojas, the Evangels put it away with a 10-2 push that stretched the lead back to 69-42 with 6:30 remaining.

Smith gave the Evangels a career-high 19 points along with a team-high 10 rebounds. Davis scored 17 and Angelo Lewis added 13 points. Semar Farris recorded a game-high seven assists and four steals.

Michael Gholston led the Tigers (17-15) with 16 points, while Nathan Fort had 10 points and a game-high 13 boards.

Defensively, the Evangels forced 27 turnovers and limited the Tigers to only 33.8 percent (22-of-65) overall from the field.