Box Score The Basics
Score: (13) Evangel 79, (22) MidAmerica Nazarene 66
Location: Springfield, Mo. (Ashcroft Center)
Records: Evangel (9-1, 4-0); MNU (8-2, 3-1)
Box Score
Story by Mike Bennett, contributor to www.evangelathletics.com
As befitting a pair of 8-1 teams that are each ranked in the NAIA top-25, Evangel and Mid-America Nazarene put on strong displays of shooting and defense on Wednesday night.
The problem for MNU was that the matchup was a tale of two halves.
The 22nd-ranked Pioneers shot 15-for-25 on field goals and 7-12 on 3-pointers in the first half and built an eight-point lead at 10:30.
Evangel rallied for a 39-37 halftime lead.
Then, the 13th-ranked Valor poured on the offense and defense in the second half to cruise to a 79-66 victory. It was their eighth-straight win. "We are always a second-half team for several reasons," said 6-foot-4 junior guard Stephen Salvi, who scored 11 points in the second half and 14 total.
He pointed out depth, tenacity, teamwork – and really quick hands. Evangel made 11 steals and forced 19 turnovers.
Evangel rose to 9-1 and 4-0 in the Heart, while the Pioneers fell to 8-2 and 3-1.
The Valor steadily built the lead to 13 by hitting 10-for-14 field-goal attempts in the first 10 minutes of the second half.
Senior guard Josh Pritchett hit a pair of treys and junior guard Manrique Alvarado and junior forward-guard Broc Smith made one in that time period.
Then, some missed passes and shots gave the Pioneers a bit of an opening. They trimmed the lead to 72-64 before Evangel built the lead again.
"We always keep fighting," Salvi said. "You get too comfortable with the lead sometimes. We have to be mentally prepared every time."
The Valors' biggest lead was 14 – at 69-55 – after Alvarado's trey with 5 minutes left.
Pritchett led the Valor with 16 points and five assists. He was 3-for-5 on treys and also had five rebounds, two steals and a blocked shot.
Alvarado finished with 14 points and four assists.
Senior guard Autry Acord scored eight points and made three steals, one fewer than his nation-leading average.
"They are good. We had a couple tests earlier, so that helped us," said Evangel Coach Bert Capel. "We played a little better on the rebounds in the second half. We turned on the toughness."
The Valor edged Park 76-75 at home on Nov. 30 and slipped past 70-67 GrandView in a road game last Saturday.
Evangel stopped Pioneers' guard Jake Alexander completely on offense in the second half after he scored 14 points in the first. "He had to be one of those guys we find on the perimeter," Capel said about his aggressive half-court defense. "We normally front the post. We just were letting them catch too easy (in the first half). We were better in the second half."
Alexander led the Pioneers in scoring and also totaled seven rebounds and three steals.
Evangel returns to action at 2 p.m. Saturday against visiting Mount Mercy. It will be the first time this season that the Valor have back-to-back home games in the HofA.
Capel predicts another tough game: "They run a complicated offense to guard. We just have to take care of the home games. We have to win at home."
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