The Basics

Final (OT): Evangel 98, Oakland City 91 | Final Stats

Records: Evangel (4-5); Oakland City (2-4)

Site: Ashcroft Center

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Evangel took on Oakland City (Ind.) on Friday afternoon. After dropping their matchup earlier this week with UHSP, EU would bounce back in an overtime thriller, taking down the Mighty Oaks, 98-91.

In the first quarter, the Valor and the Mighty Oaks would go back and forth, trading baskets until Jalaya Dowell would manufacture a 5-0 run for Oakland City to take a 14-9 lead. Each team would continue to trade baskets until Abby Wildermuth would dwindle the Mighty Oak lead to only two at the buzzer, 17-15. Alexis Cauthon led all scorers with 8 at the end of the first quarter as EU shot 43.8% in the quarter.

In the second quarter, EU turned up the heat on Oakland City, limiting the Mighty Oaks to just 9-of-23 shooting (0.391) and forcing 20 turnovers. The Valor would go on a 20-8 run in the second quarter to lead by as many as 10 in the quarter. At the half, EU led 35-28. Cauthon would score 10 points to lead all scorers, off of 5-8 scoring. EU would be helped by bench scoring as 10 different Evangel players would score in the first half.

The third quarter would end up being an advantage for the Valor. Sophie Sparks would score 10 straight EU points in the 3rd and lead by as many as 16 thanks to 14-5 run to start the period. The Mighty Oaks would not be stopped so easily, as Oakland City would shoot 0.563 (9-of-16) in the 3rd to cut down on EU's lead. To end the third quarter, OCU would go on a miniature run to only trail 59-50 when the buzzer sounded. Alexis Roach would lead all EU scorers with 11 at the end of the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter, Oakland City would not be stopped on offense. After Evangel had played a quality third quarter, the Mighty Oaks would use a 12-2 run over a three minute stretch to cut the deficit. Oakland City took an 80-76 lead with just 1:04 to play, but Mullings went 4-for-4 at the FT line to erase their lead. Cauthon would get a shot from near half court as time expired, but unfortunately the shot would be off to move the game to overtime. OCU would outscore the Valor by 9 points to tie things up at the end of regulation.

In the lone overtime period, EU would find their offense once again, outscoring Oakland City by a 16-9 margin to ultimately take the win from the Mighty Oaks, 98-91. EU scored 7 of the first 9 points in OT to take control for good. Bayley Harman would hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 3:05 to play, followed by a Sparks layup with 2:11 to play to lead 89-84. OCU would continue to fight, pulling to within 3 on Kietlinski 3-pointer with 0:31 to play, but EU would go 6-of-6 at the charity stripe to seal the win.

Cauthon would lead Evangel with 20 points (8-of-14 FG), while Sparks would add 16 points as well as 3 assists and 3 steals. Harman would finish with a nice stat line of 16 points, 8 rebounds, 6 steals, 3 assists. Roach added 17 points and 6 steals, and Zoey Mullings rounded the double digit scoring out with 10 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 steals. EU set the school record for turnovers forced in a game with 44, scoring 44 points off the turnovers.

UP NEXT

Evangel will take on Central Methodist in Fayette, Mo. for their first conference matchup of the season on Wednesday, December 1st at 5:30 p.m.

For the latest information on Evangel Athletics, visit Facebook at Facebook.com/EvangelValor, Twitter (@EvangelValor), or EvangelAthletics.com. Fans can also receive updates on their favorite EU teams by downloading the Evangel Athletics Gameday App through the App Store or Google Play.  

—#OneValor—