SHAWNEE – Fayzon Richey scored a game-high 34 points on his Senior Night, but St. Gregory's couldn't overcome an early deficit in an 81-70 loss to Mid-America Christian Saturday night at W.P. Wood Field House. The senior from El Reno was one point off his season high, going 11 of 21 from the field in his last game on Don Sumner Court.

The game pitted the top two scorers in the conference against each other in Richey and MACU's Charlie Shorter. Camilo Valencia, however, led the Evangels with 27 points, including a 6 of 7 night from three-point range. Shorter finished with 22.

SGU had a better shooting night from the field than the visitors – including a 56 percent clip in the second half – but MACU converted 24 Cavalier turnovers into 27 points. The visitors also had a 39-32 advantage on the boards.

SGU missed nine of its first 11 shots and turned the ball over seven times in the game's first eight minutes. That led to 17 unanswered points by the Evangels, who built a 22-point lead just 9:29 into the game. The Cavs got back in it, though, with a 12-1 spurt over the next 6-plus minutes, and the deficit was 29-18 with 4:18 left in the half.

MACU held a 38-24 advantage at the break. Neither team broke 40 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes, but the Evangels scored 15 points off 14 first-half turnovers by SGU. MACU also had a 25-19 edge on the boards and converted 14 second-chance points compared to only four by the home team.

Shorter and Richey led their teams with 14 and 12 points, respectively, in the first half.

SGU continued to cut into the lead early in the second half. The Cavs scored 12 of the period's first 16 points, and after a Brock Vorwald bucket at the 16:48 mark, it was 42-36 MACU. But the Evangels regained the momentum quickly by going on an 11-2 run – capped off by a Valencia trey – to make it 53-38 with 13:54 to play.

The lead swelled to 18 with 10:42 remaining when SGU made another run. Dylan Lemley's put-back at the 7:24 mark ended an 11-0 spurt by the home team, and it was a 7-point game. That lead held until the 1:41 mark when senior Devonte Young cut it to 73-68 with a driving layup.

But the Cavs couldn't get a stop down the stretch, and the Evangels made nine of their last 10 free throws to put the game away.

SGU will take on Wayland Baptist in the play-in game of the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament Wednesday at 8 p.m. That contest will be played at Oklahoma Baptist University.