The Basics

Score: #15 Evangel 76, #1 Grace 83

Location: Kansas City, Mo. (Municipal Auditorium)

Records: Evangel (21-11); Grace (34-1)

Box Score 

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Valor Men's Basketball took the floor on Saturday (Mar. 23) afternoon, looking to pull off the biggest upset of notable memory, taking on the overall #1 seeded Grace Lancers for the right to play in the Fab Four on Monday evening. Evangel would not back down from their opponent, putting forth a strong display of grit and tenacity against the top ranked squad, but could not find the run needed to pull off the upset, falling 76-83, and ending the "Cinderella" run in the Elite Eight.

Josh Pritchett opened the game by blocking a Lancer shot, quickly setting the tone that the Valor defense had come to play. The first five minutes of play would be tightly contested, as the Lancers would hold a slight one or two point lead over the Valor. Carson Cavalier would enter the game and make his presence noted, quickly hitting a three pointer off a curl, giving Evangel their first lead of the afternoon, 13-11. A jumper by Garrett Davault on the following possession gave the Valor what would be their largest lead of the game, 15-11, with 13:53 remaining in the first half. The remainder of the first half would be a back and forth battle between both teams, as made basket was followed by made basket. Another three from Cavalier would be Evangel's final basket of the half, giving the Valor a 34-33 lead, but Grace would end the period by hitting a pair of jumpers, making it a 37-34 Grace lead at the halftime break.

After a Davault free throw with 15:07 remaining in the game would make EU trail by just a single point, 43-42, the Lancers would find a groove after the media timeout. A quick 9-0 run by Grace would push the #1 seed out to a 52-42 lead over EU, with 13:20 remaining. The Valor would not back down, slowly chipping at the Lancers lead. A three from Cavalier would draw the Valor within four points, 56-52, but again, it would be Grace who would respond with a run. This time though, the Valor were unable to generate enough offense to chip away. A Lancer 13-point lead with just over two minutes left hurt the Valor, as EU would hit a pair of threes in the final minute, but ultimately fall and end their season, 83-76.

QUOTABLE 

"Two really good teams took the floor tonight and battled all the way to the end. Grace is a very good team. Unfortunately, we couldn't get over the hump down the stretch. I was proud of our guys and their effort. They never gave up this afternoon," head coach Bert Capel stated. "I'm proud of our graduating seniors and everything they've contributed to our program. I really appreciate our fans coming out and supporting the guys today, they were awesome!"

NOTABLE 

• Carson Cavalier had a strong shooting night for the Valor, going 7-11 from the three point line and scoring 21 points in the loss.

• Garrett Davault and Josh Pritchett rounded out double digit scoring for the Valor, putting up 13 and 10 points, respectively.

• Davault brought down a team high six rebounds while Pritchett passed off a team high five assists.

• The Valor defense forced 14 Grace turnovers in the loss.

• The loss ends Evangel's push for a title as the 15th seeded Valor took three wins during the postseason run, the most in EU history since 2001-02.

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.