SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Valor Men's Basketball pulled off the upset victory last night (Mar. 15) against two-seeded Florida Memorial and is set to take on the 10-seeded Baker Wildcats in a battle between former Heart of America conference foes.
Tip-off for Saturday's game is set for 5:30 p.m. in Waxahachie, Texas, as the Valor look to survive and advance to the round of 16 in Kansas City next week.
SERIES HISTORY
Evangel and Baker have matched up 76 times all-time. Evangel leads the all-time matchup with the Wildcats, 56-20, but fell to Baker in their most recent matchup, an overtime regular season battle, 93-104.
OPENING STORYLINES
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Evangel took a big time upset win on Friday (Mar. 15) evening, taking down the #2 seeded Florida Memorial Lions to advance to the Round of 32 to take on former Heart of America foe, Baker at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 16th.
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Valor Men's Basketball took a 91-76 victory over #2 FMU last night, dominating the game from start to finish.
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In the KCAC, only Evangel and Oklahoma Wesleyan were able to take wins, as Southwestern and Kansas Wesleyan were both eliminated in close matchups.
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Josh Pritchett led the Valor in their last game, scoring 20 points against the Lion squad.
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The last time Evangel and Baker matched up, Evangel fell in a home matchup in the regular season in overtime, 93-104.
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Evangel currently sits with 19 wins, as head coach Bert Capel took his 64th career win against nationally ranked and two-seeded FMU.
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Four Valor athletes average double digit scoring so far this season, with Josh Pritchett leading the charge with 16.1 points per game.
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If Evangel wins on Saturday, it'll be the first second round win since Evangel won the national championship back in 2001-02.
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Pritchett ranks in the EU record book in several different categories. Josh currently is 2nd in Evangel history in assists (563) and steals (231), 4th in scoring (2,032), 5th in three point makes (223), as well as 6th in blocks (76).
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Evangel earned their second first round win under head coach Bert Capel on Friday.
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Evangel is just 1-9 in second round matchups in the NAIA National Tournament, while Baker will compete in their first ever second round matchup.
LOOKING AHEAD
With a win, Evangel Men's Basketball advance to the NAIA Sweet 16 in Kansas City's Municipal Auditorium and take on the winner of #3 Montana Tech and #11 Lewis-Clark State. With a loss, the 2023-24 basketball season will come to a conclusion.
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.
