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.

We believe in affordable tuition, made possible in part through the financial support of donors who embrace the mission of SAGU and the importance of affordable, accredited programs to train Christians for leadership in ministry, business, education, and service.

Most majors are available in-person in Waxahachie, TX, and online through a wide range of associate, bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees.