Oklahoma City —
Senior guard Caprest Rhone poured in 29 points, including five 3-pointers, as the East Central University Tigers knocked off Mid-America Christian 87-84 Thursday night at MACU’s Gaulke Activity Center.
ECU, which improved to 3-6 on the season and snapped a three-game losing streak, had four other players, including three starters, score in double figures as it avenged a 91-86 home loss to the Evangels on Saturday.
In attendance at Thursday’s game were members of the Oklahoma City Thunder, including superstar Kevin Durant.
Rhone knocked down 10-of-17 shots from the floor, including 5-of-9 from 3-point land, and 4-of-5 free throws. He also finished with five rebounds, four assists and one steal.
Joining Rhone in double figures were Nick Young with 11 points along with Bobby McAdoo, Devonte Young and Dylan Lemley with 10 apiece.
The Tigers, who trailed 44-35 at the half, shot 51.4 percent from the field in the second half to finish at 45.6 for the game.
ECU also compiled 20 assists in the contest as McAdoo and Devonte Young were credited with six each. Defensively for the Tigers they had seven steals as Hayden Darst finished with three to go with his four points and McAdoo ended up with a pair of steals.
Three consecutive Rhone free throws, with 6:18 to go, pushed ECU on top for good at 66-65. A McAdoo 3-pointer less than a minute later lifted the Tigers to a 69-65 advantage.
ECU built up a 77-69 cushion off a Devonte Young trey with 2:42 remaining.
However, the Evangels made it scary when Charlie Shorter sank a 3-pointer with three seconds left. Devonte Young was immediately fouled and hit both free shots to push the advantage back to three.
A long-range attempt by Shorter at the buzzer failed as the Tigers ended up with the win.
Shorter fired in a game-high 33 points for MACU as he connected on 11-of-24 total field-goal tries, including 4-of-8 from outside the arc. He also drilled 7-of-9 free shots.
George Haynes had a double-double for the Evangels with 20 points and 14 rebounds. Haynes canned 8-of-11 shots from the floor as nine of his boards came on the defensive end. He also blocked three shots in the contest.
Also reaching double figures in a losing effort was Camilo Valencia with 16 points as he connected for a pair of 3-pointers and was 6-of-7 from the charity stripe.
MACU shot 43.3 percent for the game, but was only 34.4 in the second half after hitting at a 51.4 percent pace in the opening 20 minutes.
ECU now takes a break until Dec. 31st when it hosts Cameron University at 4 p.m. on Wayne Cobb Court inside the Kerr Activities Center in Ada.
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