The Basics

Score: Evangel 83, Missouri Baptist 94

Location: St. Louis, Mo. (Carl & Deloris Petty SRC)

Records: Evangel (5-8); Missouri Baptist (5-8)

Box Score 

ST. LOUIS, Mo. -- Valor Men's Basketball hit the road for their final game of 2024 on Friday (Dec. 20) afternoon, taking on the Missouri Baptist Spartans in St. Louis. An offensive outburst from Missouri Baptist in the first half proved to be too much for the Valor to comeback from, as EU dropped their second straight contest, 94-83.

The Valor came out quickly to open Friday's game, taking an early 8-2 lead behind a pair of three pointers from Carson Cavalier and Josh Mason. Missouri Baptist was able to respond with strong shooting, going on a 17-3 run to take a 19-11 lead over the Valor. After both teams exchanged baskets, a miniature run coming from Isaac Wootton helped Evangel come within a point of the Spartan lead, 29-28, but a trio of consecutive three pointers from MBU reextended the Spartan lead to 10, 38-28. Baskets from Josh Mason and Garrett Davault fueled the remainder of the Valor offense in the half, but Missouri Baptist could not miss offensively, closing the half out on a 13-6 run to force Evangel to trail at halftime, 54-38, as the Spartans were shooting 61 percent from the floor in comparison to Evangel's 41 percent.

Missouri Baptist hit a three pointer to open the second half, giving the Spartans nearly a 20-point lead, 57-38, over the Valor. Evangel responded with a pair of three pointers of their own, coming from Logan Rodgers and Carson Cavalier to draw within 13 points of MBU. Despite back and forth baskets, Missouri Baptist was able to generate a small run to take another 19-point lead over EU. The Valor began to slowly chip away in the half, using baskets from Bryce Ware and Harrison Doennig to trail by just nine points. With 7:35 remaining in the half, Evangel trailed 79-70, but Missouri Baptist again made another run, as the Spartans were able to again take a 19-point lead in the game with 4:25 remaining in the contest. A strong showing from the Evangel bench helped EU dwindle down the Spartan lead, but it was too little, too late for the Valor, as they fell to Missouri Baptist, 94-83.

QUOTABLE 

"Missouri Baptist got hot from three in the first half which hurt us going into halftime," head coach Bert Capel stated. "I thought we came out strong to start the second half, but we put ourselves in too deep of a hole to climb out of at the end."

NOTABLE 

• Garrett Davault led the Valor with 15 points.

• Bryce Ware (14 pts.), Josh Mason (11 pts.), and Harrison Doennig (10 pts.) rounded out double digit scoring for EU.

• Ty Campbell led Evangel with six rebounds.

• Josh Mason passed off a team high three assists.

UP NEXT 

Valor MBB will take their Christmas break and return to action on Saturday (Jan. 4) afternoon, taking on the McPherson Bulldogs in McPherson, Kansas, at 2:00 p.m.

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.