Olathe, Kan. -- The No. 21-ranked MidAmerica Nazarene University Pioneers jumped on the No. 10-ranked Mid-America Christian University Evangels early and went on to a 105-89 win tonight (Nov. 2) at the Bell Family Arena in Olathe, Kan.
The loss is the Evangels' first of the season, dropping them to 2-1. Tonight's win was the season opener for the Pioneers.
MNU started the game outscoring the Evangels 17-4 during the first 5:30 of the contest.
The Evangels fought back by getting to the foul line, making all six attempts at the charity stripe that keyed a 10-0 spurt that cut the deficit to three.
It was a four-point lead for MNU when Hudson Welty scored six points to fuel an 8-1 surge that stretched the edge back to double-digits at 35-24 with still 7:40 left in the opening half.
Threes by Devonse Reed and Bryon Miller helped the Evangels claw back within five, only to have the Pioneers stay in control with a 10-2 run to again go ahead by 13 points before settling for a 55-44 lead at the break.
MNU kept building the lead and led by 15 points on five occasions over the first seven minutes of the second half.
The Evangels had one more run left in them, as Jerrick Massenburge scored five straight and then a score from Exavia Seaton cut the lead to 78-70 at the 10:59 mark of the second half.
But the Pioneers responded in a big way by ripping off a 17-1 burst during the next three minutes to put it away.
Reed led the Evangels with 21 points and Massenburge had 20. Bryon Miller scored 11 and Nick Tate pulled down a team-high nine rebounds.
Welty and Jordan Whelan paced six Pioneers in double-figures with 19 points, while Nick Syrie recorded a triple-double of 11 points, 11 rebounds and 15 assists.
The final numbers reflected the story of the game, as MNU shot a blistering 60.3 percent (38-of-63) from the floor, while holding the Evangels to only a 31 percent (26-of-84) clip overall.
The Evangels will next return home and host Langston University next Tuesday night (Nov. 10 at 7 p.m. inside the Gaulke Activity Center.
The outing against Langston will kick off a run of four games in five nights for MACU, including a highly touted exhibition contest at the No. 8-ranked (NCAA D-II) University of Oklahoma Sooners on Thursday night (Nov. 12) at 7 p.m. at the Lloyd Noble Center.
