The Basics
Final: Evangel 74, Columbia College 69 | Final Stats
Records: Evangel (10-4); Columbia College (7-9)
Site: Bob Burchard Court

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Evangel stopped a two-game slide and completed a season series sweep of Columbia College Friday afternoon, as the Valor built a 13-point first-half lead, then withstood a late Cougar rally for a 74-69 victory at Bob Burchard Court.

Cade Coffman poured home a game-high 21 points, including 15 in the first half, to pace the Evangel offense, while the Valor defense forced 21 turnovers to help seal EU's 10th win of the season and its sixth victory in eight road contests.

After Evangel used an 11-0 run to claim a 36-23 advantage late in the first half, the Cougars mounted a second-half comeback that saw the home team outscore the Valor 15-2 over a three-and-a-half minute stretch to take a two-point lead.

But EU converted 8-of-10 free-throw tries over the final 3:26, while holding the Cougars scoreless for more than two minutes down the stretch to clinch the victory.

Coffman finished 7-of-14 from the floor, including 3-of-8 from beyond the arc, to move into Evangel's top 15 list of all-time scorers. The senior from Mountain Grove, Mo., sparked the Valor's pivotal first-half spurt by scoring five-straight points to turn a 25-23 EU lead into a seven-point cushion.

Stephen Salvi added a jumper with just under three minutes to play in the opening half, before a Josh Pritchett dunk and a Jace Coffie bucket expanded the margin to 13 points.

Columbia College closed to within 38-30 at intermission by scoring seven of the final nine points of the half. The Cougars sliced further into the Valor lead early in the second, drawing to within one point on a Trendon Tisdale three-pointer at the 15:33 mark.

Evangel responded 10 unanswered points, including five additional points from Coffman, to push the margin back to double digits.

The seesaw battle continued with Chima Oduocha starting another Cougar run with five unanswered points. Tisdale sank another triple, before Tony Burks layup at the 5:53 mark knotted the score at 61-61. Beau Washer put the Cougars in front with his bucket off of a Dogukan Kara steal, and Carson Parker countered a 3-0 EU run with a layup, giving Columbia College a one-point edge with 3:33 left in regulation.

Pritchett connected on a pair of attempts from the charity stripe for the go-ahead points seven seconds later, and Manrique Alvarado followed suit on the Valor's next possession to make it a 68-65 game with 2:52 to play.

Evangel's defense would limit the Cougars to two field goals over the final three-and-a-half minutes, before Salvi iced the game with two more successful free-throw attempts with one second left.

In addition to Coffman's effort, Pritchett added 14 points and four assists and Salvi tallied 12 points off the EU bench.

LOOKING AHEAD
Evangel returns to the Ashcroft Center next Wednesday (Jan. 5) for a 7:30 p.m., Heart Conference contest against Park.

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—