March 7, 2020
Plainview, TX
Southwestern Assemblies of God University (SAGU) #13 ranked Men’s Basketball team was back in action on Saturday afternoon to battle #9 John Brown University (JBU) for the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament Championship. The Lions (25-7, 13-7) dominated the Golden Eagles (28-5, 17-3) winning by a score of 66-51. The Lions had a magical weekend defeating two nationally-ranked opponents on consecutive days to cut down the nets. This marks the second time in three years that Coach Deal has led the Lions to a SAC Tournament title.
Top Performers
- Joshua Kashila ( JR/Euless, TX ) led SAGU with 19 points.
- Cody Farmer ( SO/San Antonio, TX ) provided huge production off the bench scoring 15 points thanks to 5-8 shooting from behind the arc.
- Mitchell McMullen ( SR/San Antonio TX ) dished out a team-high 4 assists.
- SAGU shot 43% (21-49) from the field including 39% (11-29) from behind the arc.
- The Lions’ defense was off the charts as they held JBU to 34% (19-55) from the field including just 29% (7-24) from long distance.
- SAGU was outrebounded 38-30.
Lions Review
- The Lions were shaky to open play. JBU hit a couple of shots to take a 5-0 before SAGU called an early timeout.
- SAGU seemed out of sorts as they couldn’t grab any loose balls which led to some JBU makes as they jumped out to an 11-0 lead.
- The Lions woke up as the capitalized on some JBU mistakes and cut it to a one-possession game 11-10 with 12:11 left in the first half.
- Farmer gave the Lions their first lead 18-15 as he hit back to back triples with a little over nine minutes to go in the half.
- JBU answered back from deep as they took a 21-18 lead.
- Kashila scored on a drive to tie the game once again 23-23 with 5:11 to go in the half.
- McMullen nailed a deep triple as a part of a 12-0 run to give SAGU the 33-23 lead at the break.
- Kashila nailed a triple to give the Lions a 39-28 lead with 16:04 remaining in the game.
- The teams were trading baskets as SAGU maintained a 44-32 lead.
- Farmer hit two more triples to give the Lions their biggest lead of the game 52-32 with 11:28 to go.
- The teams would combine for just 12 points over the next five minutes as SAGU continued to lead 58-38 with 6:14 left.
- The sloppy play would continue as the teams would trade turnovers as SAGU maintained their double-digit lead.
- JBU put together a bit of a run and then used strategy to foul Darian Davis but that backfired as he knocked down 3-4 free throws at the charity stripe.
- SAGU would clinch the game and the SAC Tournament Championship at the line as they would go on to win 66-51.
What’s Next
SAGU will now shift its focus to the NAIA Division-I Men’s Basketball National Championship Tournament. The games will be played March 18-24 th at the Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri.
As a leading Christian university, SAGU educates and prepares individuals who want to serve Christ and others. SAGU helps students discover and develop their God-given callings in a Spirit-empowered, learning community.
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