The Basics
Score: Evangel 73, Peru State 62
Records: Evangel (10-12, 9-8); Peru State (9-10, 5-9)
Location: Ashcroft Center

Box Score

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Evangel used a shutdown defensive performance to erase a seven-point first half deficit, then took control for good with a 25-9 second-half scoring run en route to a 73-62 Heart of America Athletic Conference victory over Peru State Saturday afternoon at the Ashcroft Center.

Josh Pritchett scored a career-high 22 points on 9-of-13 shooting, and Cade Coffman registered his fifth double-double of the season for EU, racking up 13 points and 11 rebounds in the victory. The Crusaders held the Bobcats to 0.338 (24-of-71) shooting for the afternoon, while connecting on 30-of-61 (0.492) attempts of their own to stop a nine-game skid in the series with Peru.

Led by Pritchett's 17 first-half points, Evangel ended the opening stanza on a 12-0 scoring run to wipe out a seven-point deficit and take a 33-27 lead at the break. The Crusaders hit on 14-of-28 field goal attempts, including 7-of-8 by Pritchett, and held the Bobcats scoreless over the final 6:33 of the half. The EU defense flustered the Bobcats throughout the contest, forcing 12-straight misses from the field to end the half.

Peru State possessed the hot shooting touch early in the contest, using three-pointers by Montenia Nelson and Carl Brown to establish a 9-4 lead. Evangel—or Pritchett, to be precise—responded with seven unanswered points to give EU the lead. The sophomore guard would score 12-straight points for the Crusaders over a three-and-a-half minute stretch, turning the five-point deficit into a 16-13 advantage.

But the Bobcats would respond with a long-range barrage over the ensuing three minutes to take what seemed to be a commanding seven-point lead. Henry Tanksley knocked down the first of four Peru three-pointers with 11:30 left on the clock, before Nelson, Isaac Simpson and Brown followed suit to give the Bobcats a 25-18 edge.

EU started its comeback on a Stephen Salvi trey, before getting buckets by Edriel Martinborough and Coffman to pull to within 27-25. Coffman combined with Pritchett to score the final nine points of the half, including the go-ahead three-pointer with 4:46 left on the clock.

Peru briefly pulled to within three points on a Tanksley three just 47 seconds into the second half, but EU would answer with a decisive run to build a 19-point lead. Coffman's second-chance bucket in the paint, followed by a pair of Chris Stocks free throws, started the run before five-straight Martinborough points made it a 10-point game.

Kendall Sutton's short jumper opened up a 6-0 spurt, capped by back-to-back reverse lay-ins from Ike Egwu for a 52-36 Evangel advantage with 12:40 left on the clock. A Pritchett trey and a Sutton free throw with just under 10 minutes to play handed the Crusaders a 19-point cushion—their largest lead of the game.

Peru State used a 14-2 run over a five-minute span to close the deficit to 64-57 with just over three minutes remaining in regulation.

But Coffman corralled an offensive rebound and converted a bucket in the paint, and Martinborough sank a three-pointer with 1:57 to play that pushed the EU lead back into double-digits and effectively sealed the victory—the Crusaders' first over Peru State since March 7, 2015.

Martinborough added 11 points and a team-high four assists, while the duo of Egwu and Pavel Antonov combined to go 6-of-7 from the floor with eight blocked shots. Antonov recorded six of those rejections, marking the best single-game total by a Crusader in nearly 11 years and finishing just one block shy of the EU single-game record.

Tanksley led the Bobcats with 16 points, while Nelson chipped in with 12.

UP NEXT
Evangel travels to Canton, Mo., Thursday (Feb. 11) for a Heart Contest against Culver-Stockton. Tipoff from Charles Fieldhouse is slated for 7:30 p.m.

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—