By Mike Bennett, special contributor to evangelathletics.com

Evangel enjoyed a home game with some breathing room – for once this season.

The Valor built a 15-point halftime lead and stifled every Clarke comeback effort in the second half on the way to a 81-60 victory on Saturday afternoon at Ashcroft Center.

Evangel led by a game-high 23 twice in the second half.

Senior guard Josh Pritchett and senior center Chandler Oriakhi led the balanced Valor scoring (six players in double figures) with 15 points apiece, while senior guard Autry Acord had a double-double of 13 points and 11 rebounds.

The 6-foot-10 Oriakhi made eight rebounds as he subbed for injured starter Bryce Hunt. The Valor also were missing starting guard Edriel Martinborough.

Acord said the comfortable win was a reflection of a strong team mindset following the Christmas break: "It started on Monday with us practicing a whole lot harder. I think we got our edge back going into the long stretch of the second half of the season."

The Valor certainly had the edge in winning 73-60 on Wednesday at Missouri Valley and then surging to a 43-28 halftime lead on Saturday over the Pride.

Coach Bert Capel agreed with Acord about the stronger second-half focus: "The couple losses we've had have been very mental – not locked in," he said. "Being the new year we said, 'let's work on the mental part no matter where we are at. Let's get back to guarding and making sure we are ready.'"

The Valor were certainly ready Saturday: They forced 17 turnovers and committed only eight. They led in rebounds 40-38. They led in shooting 45.1% on 32-of-71 to 38.3% on 23-of-60. Evangel made 10 treys to two for Clarke.

Evangel rose to 13-2 overall and 8-1 in the Heart Conference. Clarke dropped to 7-7 and 2-6.  

"We just trusted the offense and got some good shots to fall," said Acord, a graduate of Springfield Parkview. "We felt comfortable the whole second half."

The Valor rose to 6-1 at home this season but all other previous victories in Ashcroft Center had tense, seesaw moments – including a last-second win.

That certainly wasn't the case this time.

Evangel scored the first four points and surged to a 13-4 lead. The score was 26-13 with 7:47 left in the first half following treys by Oriakhi and junior guard Stephen Salvi.

The Pride cut the lead to nine at 29-20 with 5:28 left, but that's as close as they got the rest of the game. 

The Valor led 43-28 at halftime with Pritchett leading the way with 12 points. He averaged 28 in the previous three games and led the team with 18.9 ppg coming in. 

Forward Jace Coffie scored 12 points, grabbed six rebounds and made a team-high five steals for Evangel, while freshman guard Garrett Davault had 11 points, four assists and four steals. Junior guard Salvi added 10 points, all in the first half.

Anthony Eddy and LaJarron Spinks led Clarke with 15 points apiece. 

"They are a good team," said Capel, who won his 35th game as head coach at Evangel. "We were missing a couple starters and they were missing some players. That allowed us to get some players more minutes (such as Oriakhi)." 

The Valor return to action with a game at Benedictine (Kan.) at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Benedictine was 7-7 overall and 5-3 in the Heart going into a home game Saturday against Grand View.

"We just need to continue getting a bit better. It's going to be a tough game," Capel said. "As long as we do as we know we can with the same energy, we give ourselves a good chance."