OKLAHOMA CITY – Mid-America Christian defeated Oklahoma City University 87-78 in a cross-town Sooner Athletic Conference match-up on Thursday evening at Gaulke Activity Center.
 
MACU (16-10, 12-7) led by as many as 12 points in the first half before settling for a 37-32 halftime lead. The Evangel lead stood at 72-61 at the 5:32 mark of the second half before OCU went on a 11-5 run to cut the margin to 77-72 on a 3-pointer by senior guard Rashaun Coleman at the 2:44 mark.
 
That's as close as the Stars would get with MACU pushing the lead to 81-72 on back-to-back layups by Kendall Scott, the second one at the 1:07 mark.
 
OCU made 25 of 58 field goal attempts (43.1%) compared to 30 of 66 shooting (45.5%) for the Evangels. The teams were nearly even from the free throw line, with OCU 16 of 22 attempts and MACU making 17 of 24 attempts.
 
Three Stars scored in double-figures with senior forward Romario Spence leading the way with a career-high 31 points to go with a team-high 14 rebounds. Coleman finished with 14 points and junior forward Kori Guest contributed 15 points.
 
OCU returns to action on Saturday when it hosts Southwestern Christian in the home regular season finale. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:45 p.m. at Abe Lemons Arena.