The Basics

Score: (18) Evangel 73, (13) William Penn 76 

Location: Oskaloosa, Iowa (Penn Gymnasium) 

Records: Evangel (14-3, 9-2); William Penn (15-2, 11-0) 

Box Score 

OSKALOOSA, Iowa -- Valor Men's Basketball headed north for a tough matchup with 13th ranked William Penn on Saturday, looking to pull off the upset. A tough start to the game slowed the Valor down and ultimately proved costly as a late run came up just short against William Penn, 76-73.

The Valor came out flat to kick off the match, as William Penn's fast paced offense and physical defense raced out to an early 15-0 lead. Evangel recorded their first points of the game at the 11:49 mark on an Edriel Martinborough layup and slowly began to get back into an offensive flow. Ike Egwu and Autry Acord each recorded scores of their own, putting the deficit at 11 points, 17-6. At the 9:33 mark, Josh Pritchett recorded his first basket of the afternoon. Several possessions later, William Penn raced out to their largest lead, 35-17, with just 2:22 remaining. In the final two minutes, the Valor offense caught fire. Free throws from Manrique Alvarado, followed by a three from Martinborough and two trays from Pritchett dwindled the William Penn lead to just nine at the halftime break, 37-28.

Despite consistently dwindling the Statesmen lead, William Penn always had an answer to any Valor run. The Statesmen took a 17 point advantage with 7:58 remaining in the ballgame and held their double digit lead until 38 seconds remained in the game. Pritchett consistently kept the Valor alive throughout the second half, never letting the game get out of control. With the score at 73-63, in favor of William Penn and just 26 seconds remaining, Pritchett nailed two free throws. Just nine seconds later, Acord hit a three and EU trailed by just five points, 73-68. A single free throw put WPU up by six and then on the other end, Pritchett nailed an acrobatic three to make it a three point game, 74-71, with six seconds remaining. The Valor needed to force a turnover to have a chance, but the Statesmen got the inbound and were fouled. WPU nailed both free throws and a Garrett Davault layup at the end of the game finalized the score as the Valor came up just short, 76-73.

NOTABLE 

• Josh Pritchett led Evangel with 30 points in the loss.

• Evangel shot 40 percent from the floor compared to William Penn's 45 percent.

• Martinborough recorded seven rebounds to lead the team.

• Acord finished with six steals, tying his season high, in the loss.

• Evangel fell in their first road game of the season with the loss.

• Evangel recorded their first loss to a ranked opponent on Saturday.

NEXT UP 

Evangel has a quick turnaround, hosting Central Methodist on Monday (Jan. 16) evening at 7:30 p.m. in the Ashcroft Center.

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—