MACU News
 
Thu, Jan 12, 2012 - [Men's Basketball]
Oklahoma City, Okla. -- The Wayland Baptist Pioneers rallied from a 12-point halftime deficit to knock off the Mid-America Christian Evangels 86-81 in a Sooner Athletic Conference matchup Thursday night (Jan. 12) at the Gaulke Activity Center. 
 
WBU surged to a four-point lead of 82-78 on two free throws by Isaiah Jackson with 23 seconds left.
 
Shorter kept the Evangels (6-8, 1-8 SAC) alive by converting a three-point off an offensive rebound that made it a one-point game with 14 seconds left.
 
The Evangels were then forced to foul George Williams, who made both free throws to make it 84-81.
 
Shorter then misfied on a three that led to a pair of free throws by Eisinger that sealed the win for WBU. 
 
The Pioneers took their first lead since the early going on a layup by Jamie Eisinger that capped a 16-5 run that made it 64-63 with 7:59 remaining.
 
The two squads then exchanged the lead twice before a techincal foul was called on Brandon Williams on an inbounds pass with 6:48 left.
 
Eisinger stepped to the line and made two foul shots that put the Pioneers back in front 68-67.
 
After Bobby Watkins gave the Pioneers a three-point lead, Brandon Williams scored inside and then drained a three to give MACU a 72-70 advantage with five minutes left.
 
A three-point play by Robert Curtis put the Pioneers back on top by one, but a jumper by Shorter again propelled the Evangels into the lead.
 
It was 78-78 when a layup by Curtis gave the Pioneers the lead for good. 
The Evangels got off to a quick start behind a combined eight points from Darius Gregory and George Haynes for a 14-4 lead. 
 
A pair of treys by Shorter stretched the advantage to 17 at 36-19 and the Evangels went on to a 43-31 lead at the break.
 
Shorter tallied his second straight 30 point game with a game-high 32 on 12-of-25 shooting.  Cameron Langster had 13 points, while Brandon Williams had 10 and a game-high eight assists.  Freshman Josh Smith had eight points, a team-high seven boards, three assists and two blocks.
 
Curtis and Jackson each led five Pioneers in double-figures with 17 points, with Curtis managing a game-high eight rebounds. 
 
It was a tale of two halves shooting the ball, as the Evangels came out firing with a 54.3 percent (19-of-35) in the first half, but cooled off to 40.6 percent (13-of-32) in the second half.  The Pioneers meanwhile were limited to only a 34.3 percent (12-of-35) in the opening half but warmed up to a 55.9 percent (19-of-34) clip in the second stanza.
 
The Evangels will continue their six-game homestand against Lubbock Christian on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 14) at 3 p.m. in the Gaulke Activity Center.