Box Score The Basics
Score: (19) Evangel 93, Baker 104
Location: Springfield, Mo. (Ashcroft Center)
Records: Evangel (17-5, 12-4), Baker (16-5, 11-4)
Box Score
Story by Mike Bennett, special contributor to www.evangelathletics.com
Evangel dug itself a deep hole twice against Baker on Saturday afternoon.
The Valor overcame one -- a 12-point deficit with 7 minutes left in regulation -- to force overtime, but they couldn't overcome the nine-point advantage that the Wildcats progressively built in extra time.
The Wildcats simply wouldn't be stopped in taking a 104-93 victory at Ashcroft Center.
They dominated the boards with 48 rebounds to 30 for the Valor. They outscored them 48-34 in the paint and 17-2 in second-chance points.
The immediate consequence is that Evangel dropped into a three-way tie at 12-4 for second place in the Heart Conference with MidAmerica Nazarene and Peru State.
Baker moved to 11-4 in the Heart, just a half game behind the others.
Baker is 16-5 overall and the 19th-ranked Valor are 17-5.
The loss came in the first of a season-long three-game home stretch for Evangel and was the first time this season that they had lost two games in a row.
Senior guard Josh Pritchett continued his hot scoring pace with 26 points for Evangel. "We had a stretch there where we fell way behind. We can't afford to do that," he said. "We shouldn't have put ourselves in that position. We have to do a better job of playing well the whole game."
Evangel's largest lead was six points with 9:23 left in the first half and led 41-39 at halftime.
After rallying to within five points, "we knew we had to get stops," Pritchett said. "We just had to stay together on defense."
They did that at the end of regulation, forcing Baker to take two timeouts before the Wildcats could inbound the ball with 19 seconds left after Pritchett sank two free throws to make it 86-84.
Pritchett swished a 3-point shot from the left wing with 10 seconds left to send the game into overtime at 88-88.
The pressure defense on both sides of the court forced Baker to attempt a well-defended 3-point shot that missed.
Pritchett also hit treys at 4:47 and 3:50 in the late second-half rally. Evangel had its biggest advantage in treys, making 11 to six for Baker.
Evangel placed four players in double figures. Autry Acord scored 13 points and made five rebounds, three assists and one steal.
Bryce Hunt totaled 12 points and three rebounds and Garrett Davault had 10 points. Manrique Alvarado and Jace Coffie scored nine points apiece.
Evangel shot well on field-goal attempts at 50% (32-for-64), but Peru State was better with 51.4% on 38-for-74. Both teams had 11 turnovers.
Quentin Harvey scored 26 points and made 11 rebounds to lead Baker. Jalen Patterson had 22 points and nine assists.
The Valor return to action on Wednesday by hosting Benedictine at 7:30 p.m. in Ashcroft Center.
Benedictine is 11-12 overall and 9-5 in the Heart Conference coming into the game after falling 69-60 at home Saturday to MidAmerica Nazarene.
