SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – After pulling off upset wins in the Waxahachie pod, Valor Men's Basketball advanced to the Round of 16 and the final site of Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo., and will take on the 11th seeded Lewis-Clark State Warriors for the right to advance to the Round of Eight.
Tip-off for Thursday's game is set for 7:00 p.m. in Kansas City, as the Valor look to keep their "Cinderella" hopes alive and survive and advance to the round of eight on Saturday, March 23rd.
SERIES HISTORY
Evangel and Lewis-Clark State will match up for the first time in program history on Thursday night in Municipal Auditorium.
OPENING STORYLINES
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Evangel advanced to the NAIA National Tournament Final Site to take on the 11th-seeded Lewis-Clark State Warriors on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. in Municipal Auditorium.
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Valor Men's Basketball dominated the second half of last Saturday's round of 32 game, taking down longtime Heart of America foe, Baker, 90-68.
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In the KCAC, only Evangel and Oklahoma Wesleyan were able to advance to the final site.
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Garrett Davault led the Valor in the previous game, scoring a career high 30 points as the Wildcat defense could not stop Davault from getting to the hoop.
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Evangel and Lewis-Clark State match up for the first time in Evangel's storied history.
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Evangel currently sits with 20 wins, which is head coach Bert Capel's third consecutive season with 20+ wins.
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Four Valor athletes average double digit scoring so far this season, with Josh Pritchett leading the charge with 15.9 points per game.
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If Evangel wins on Thursday, it'll be Evangel's first appearance in the round of eight since the 2001-02 national championship season.
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Pritchett ranks in the EU record book in several different categories. Josh currently is 2nd in Evangel history in assists (568) and steals (232), 4th in scoring (2,041), 5th in three point makes (224), as well as 6th in blocks (77).
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Evangel earned their first second round win under head coach Bert Capel on Saturday, moving Capel's postseason record to 3-2 overall.
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Evangel is 1-0 all-time in third round matchups in the NAIA National Tournament.
LOOKING AHEAD
With a win, Evangel Men's Basketball advances to the NAIA Elite Eight in Kansas City's Municipal Auditorium and take on the winner of #1 Grace and #5 Northwestern on Saturday (Mar. 23) afternoon at 3:00 p.m. 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.
