The Basics

Score: (24) Evangel 76, Central Methodist 79 

Location: Fayette, Mo. (Puckett Field House) 

Records: Evangel (19-6, 14-5); Central Methodist (15-9, 12-6) 

Box Score 

FAYETTE, Mo. -- Evangel Men's Basketball traveled to Fayette, Mo., after a dominant win over Culver-Stockton, looking to defeat the Central Methodist Eagles on the road and complete the season sweep. A cold second half of shooting for the Valor hurt their chances at the win, with Central Methodist pulling off the upset, 79-76, in Fayette.

Evangel trailed for the majority of the first half against Central Methodist, but began to come alive in the final eight minutes of the half. A Broc Smith three pushed the Valor to a two point lead, 30-28, that they would maintain for the remainder of the half. Back and forth scoring between both teams continued throughout the final four minutes of the half. A Manrique Alvarado three put EU up by seven, their largest lead of the first half with just two minutes remaining in the half. CMU responded with a few baskets of their own, but a Stephen Salvi three in the final 50 seconds of the half pushed EU to a six point lead and at halftime, the Valor led it, 48-44.

The Valor came out of halftime with a solid overall pace and looked to try and put the game away. EU was able to push their lead out to nine points on two different occasions in the second half, with a Garrett Davault free throw coming at the 15:04 mark being the largest lead of the night. In the span of three minutes, CMU was able to respond and tie the game up at 55-55 with 12 minutes remaining. From this point, Evangel began to slow on offense and CMU took advantage of missed opportunities from the Valor. CMU raced out to a 66-62 lead, and the Valor tied the game up at 66 apiece on a Salvi basket with 6:07 remaining. EU went scoreless for the next 2:50, allowing CMU to take another slight lead and with 2:08 remaining, the Eagles took a 75-68 lead. The Valor slowly began to come back on Josh Pritchett and Edriel Martinborough baskets and a Salvi free throw drew EU to just a three point deficit with seven seconds remaining. The Valor were forced to foul, but the Eagles missed both free throws and EU had 2.1 seconds for a final possession. The inbounds play was a designed lob to the three point line from across court, but the ball ended up being intercepted as CMU came away with the 79-76 victory.

NOTABLE 

• Pritchett led Evangel with 22 points.

• Evangel scored just 28 points in the second half on 24.2 percent shooting.

• Acord came away with three steals, moving his nation leading total to 88.

• Autry Acord led Evangel with six rebounds in the loss.

• Evangel forced 13 turnovers, but only scored two points off the 13 opportunities.

NEXT UP 

Evangel returns home for their final regular season home matchup of the year, taking on Grand View on Saturday (Feb. 11) afternoon at 2:00 p.m. for Senior Day.

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—