The Basics
Score: Central Methodist 76, Evangel 63
Records: Evangel (7-9, 6-5), Central Methodist (7-10, 4-8)
Location: Puckett Field House

Box Score

FAYETTE, Mo. – Central Methodist seized control of a tight contest with a 17-0 first-half scoring run and never looked back, handing Evangel a 76-63 setback Saturday afternoon at Puckett Field House.

CMU shot 50 percent (28-of-56) from the floor, led by 19 points from Chandlar Bevans, to earn a season split with Evangel. Jonathan Brown added 16 points, including a trio of critical three-pointers during the Eagles' decisive first-half scoring spurt, and finished 4-of-6 from beyond the arc for CMU.

EU connected on 11 attempts from three-point range, but shot just 0.377 (23-of-61) overall from the floor in dropping its fifth-consecutive contest. Cade Coffman led the Crusaders with 21 points and eight rebounds, and Edriel Martinborough added 15 points.

Coffman's first trey of the game knotted the score at 11-11 with 14:21 to play in the opening half, but a Chris Orozco bucket 15 seconds later kicked off the Eagles' key run. Brown followed with back-to-back triples, before another Orozco basket with 12:08 left on the clock made it a 21-11 game.

A third Brown three-pointer and jumpers by Bevans and Fode Camara handed the home club a 28-11 advantage with just over nine minutes to play in the half.

Evangel trimmed the margin to 12 on a Manrique Alvarado three, then cut the gap to seven points late in the half thanks to a 10-2 run that was highlighted by treys from Kendall Sutton and Josh Pritchett.

But Brown answered once again for the Eagles, burying another three-pointer early in the second half, then sinking a jumper with 16:24 to play to extend the CMU lead to 14 points.

The Crusaders would draw to within eight points of the Eagles on buckets from Pritchett and Pavel Antonov, but Bevans answered with five-straight points for CMU to make it a 63-48 contest with 9:45 left in regulation. EU would get no closer than 10 points the rest of the way.

CMU finished 10-of-22 from three-point range to offset a 10-of-20 effort from the foul line. The Eagles also out-rebounded Evangel by a 43-33 margin and forced 20 turnovers to stop a seven-game Heart Conference skid, dating back to their Dec. 2 loss to the Crusaders in Springfield.

UP NEXT
The Crusaders return to action Wednesday evening, when they host Missouri Valley in a 7:30 p.m., Heart Conference contest at the Ashcroft Center.

For the latest information on Evangel Athletics, follow the Crusaders on Facebook at Facebook.com/EUAthletics, Twitter (@EUAthletics), or visit EvangelAthletics.com. Fans can also receive updates on the team by downloading the new Evangel Crusaders GamedayApp through Google Play. 

—EvangelAthletics.com—