Story by Mike Bennett, special contributor to www.evangelathletics.com

We know Micah Clayton is clutch in the last quarter.

The sophomore forward scored another 3-point play at the end of regulation on Saturday to aid a third scintillating rally and victory at home in the last two weeks for the Valor.

This time, she also stuffed a game-tying trey attempt in the last second of overtime as the Valor defeated Grand View 86-83 before a large and loud Senior Day crowd at the Ashcroft Center.

Clayton's 3-point play with 13.8 second left in the fourth quarter gave Evangel a 72-71 lead – like her tying and winning points in two previous late victories. Then, she immediately made a steal off the inbounds play.

Lexi Berry sank a pair of free throws to make it 74-71 with 9.9 left, before Isabel Gscheidle swished a 3-pointer in the final seconds to force overtime.

"We must like close games," Berry joked after the game. "We never give up. We stick together."

Gscheidle kept Grand View in the game with another pair of treys in overtime, but Evangel's defense stood strong and Clayton batted back the final Vikings shot.

She also hit a long field goal and assisted on a layup by Paiton Acord in overtime. "Micah comes through in close games. That's evident," said Berry. "She's always ready to win."

So is Berry and her close-knit teammates. "We battle in practice. We know how to come together for a common mission," said Berry, a sophomore guard who was a perfect 6-for-6 on field goals and had team highs of 16 points and four assists. "I was happy my shots were falling. This was a good game for everyone. It makes for a fun lockerroom. We give praises to each other."

The scoring was teamwork personified: sophomore guard Jazzy Kirby scored 13 points, Clayton 11 and senior forward Paiton Acord 10, while senior guards Sadie Chisum and Sophie Sparks totaled eight points apiece. Senior forward Alexis Cauthon scored seven. Even freshman guard Emma Mullings stepped up with a trey and last-second field goal at an important time – to help cut Grand View's lead to 35-32 at halftime.

Grandview led 55-54 heading into the fourth quarter. The Vikings pulled ahead 71-67 before a floater by Berry and Clayton followed with a rebound and layup for the tie and then hit a go-ahead free throw.

"We have been in a lot of close games. They know what to do in those close situations," said Evangel coach Preston Beverly. 

Evangel shot 51.4% on field goals (36-for-70) and forced 22 turnovers.

Acord had a game-high eight rebounds and Clayton had three steals and two assists. Kirby had three assists, three rebounds, two steals and a block.

The Valor's victory solidified their position alone in fifth place heading into the final two games of the regular season in the Heart Conference.

They entered one game ahead of Culver-Stockton and Missouri Valley.

The victory boosted the Valor to 13-12 overall and 12-8 in the Heart, while GV fell to 19-7 and 15-5.

GV entered in a third-place tie with MidAmerica Nazarene at 15-4 and Clarke is second with 16-3.

The Valor play MAN at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, then finish at Mount Mercy (4-15) at 11 a.m. Feb. 18.

"We still need one more win," Beverly said.

He said it's helped that Evangel has played strong conference teams to end the season: "That's tournament basketball (he said about recent close wins). It's preparing us for the tournament. We are playing playoff basketball against playoff teams."

Evangel opened strongly, leading by a game-high nine points with 3:49 left in the first quarter and then 23-19 after one quarter 

The Valor scored only four points for the first seven minutes of the second quarter before Mullings scored a trey and then last-second 10-foot shot before halftime.

Beverly said he isn't surprised by winning close games: "We are what we knew we'd be all the way along. We have a really good group. Regardless what teams do to us, we have a fix for it with our group of players."