The Basics

Score: Evangel 71, (RV) William Woods 84

Location: Springfield, Mo. (AGFinancial Arena)

Records: Evangel (2-1); William Woods (5-0)

Box Score 

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Valor Men's Basketball remained at home on Wednesday (Nov. 13) evening, hosting the William Woods Owls, a team who had begun to start receiving votes in the latest NAIA Top 25 rating. Looking to take a competitive battle with the Owls, Evangel struggled to shoot in the first half and fell short of their comeback attempt in a physical game, falling 84-71 on Wednesday.

Evangel and William Woods traded baskets to open the first half, with Evangel's first five points coming from Carson Cavalier. A pair of Garrett Davault free throws put Evangel ahead 7-5 with 16:56 remaining in the first half, but this would be the only Valor lead of the night. A 10-0 WWU run pushed the Owls out to a 15-7 lead over the Valor and although Evangel would use baskets from Harrison Doennig and Josh Mason to make it just a 17-13 deficit, another large 15-2 run from the Owls made it a 32-15 game. The Valor could not draw the WWU lead down in the remainder of the first half, as they trailed by 20 at the halftime break, 48-28.

The Valor came out looking to make a run to open the second half. A basket from Stephen Salvi and a three pointer from Manrique Alvarado helped Evangel narrow the lead to 15 points, but William Woods always seemed to have an answer. The Owls retook an 18 point lead over the Valor with 14:01 remaining in the game but Evangel continued to fight, drawing the Owls lead down to just nine points with 7:28 remaining on an Alvarado three pointer. After seemingly every Evangel basket, the Owls had a counter basket of their own, as the Valor could never make more ground on the deficit in the game. A layup again from Alvarado made it another nine point game with 2:08 remaining, but needing a stop, William Woods again scored. Dane Foster closed the scoring out on Wednesday with a free throw as Evangel could not record the comeback, despite outscoring WWU by seven points in the second half, 84-71.

QUOTABLE 

"I was disappointed in our lack of toughness in the first half. William Woods came in looking to go at us and I didn't think we responded very well," head coach Bert Capel stated. "I thought we came out much tougher in the second half, but got down too far and couldn't find a way to come back. We'll use this game as a learning experience moving forward."

NOTABLE 

• Manrique Alvarado led the charge once again for Evangel, scoring 24 points and passing off six assists in the win.

• Josh Mason (12 pts.) and Garrett Davault (10 pts.), rounded out double digit scoring for the Valor.

• Stephen Salvi recorded five rebounds to lead EU.

• Evangel shot 41.0 percent from the floor, but just 26.3 percent from three point range in the loss.

• The Valor shot just 59.3 percent from the charity stripe on Wednesday (16-27).

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—