The Basics

Score: Evangel 85, Ottawa 82

Location: Ottawa, Kan. (Wilson Field House)

Records: Evangel (10-11, 7-8); Ottawa (14-7, 10-5)

Box Score 

OTTAWA, Kan. -- Valor Men's Basketball capped off their three game road trip on Wednesday (Jan. 29) evening, taking on the Ottawa Braves as EU looked to open a winning streak after defeating Sterling last Saturday. Despite a slow start, the Valor offense locked in and used key stops late on Wednesday, taking an 85-82 road victory over the fourth ranked team in the conference.

Evangel struggled to open the first half, as the Valor were unable to score for the first five minutes of the game, while Ottawa jumped out to a 13-0 lead. A Harrison Doennig three point basket broke the drought for EU and opened a 12-3 scoring run for the Valor, as Evangel fought to get back into the game, trailing 12-16 with 11:24 remaining. EU continued to fight and were able to come within a point of Ottawa on a basket from Luke Foster with 5:11 left in the half, before the Braves pushed back out to an eight point lead with 2:42 remaining. Baskets from Bryce Ware and Garrett Davault brought EU back to within a point and a lob play to Cade Sutton at the buzzer gave Evangel their first lead of the evening, 35-34.

After what was a low scoring first half, both Evangel and Ottawa's offenses traded blows in the second half. A three pointer from the Braves regave Ottawa the lead, 46-47, before Stephen Salvi hit a three in response to put EU back ahead, 49-47. Despite the Braves tying the game up at 49, Evangel recorded several clutch baskets in response to points scored by Ottawa, as the Braves could not catch back up with EU until late in the period. After baskets from Garrett Davault and Bryce Ware, Ottawa fought back and evened the score with 3:46 remaining, 76-76. With a minute remaining, Ty Campbell scored a tough layup to put EU ahead, 83-80, but again, the Braves scored to cut the Evangel lead to just a point. After the Valor failed to score on the ensuing possession, Evangel created a key defensive stop, getting a steal and throwing the ball up to a wide open Davault who slammed it down with 5.9 seconds remaining and an Evangel 85-82 lead. Ottawa had a chance to tie it at the buzzer, but a key block from Isaac Wootton closed the game, as EU escaped from Ottawa with a gritty 85-82 victory on the road.

QUOTABLE 

"I thought we showed some serious toughness tonight against a really good Ottawa team on the road, which is something we have been lacking most of the season. After getting down 13-0, we hung in there and finished the half strong," head coach Bert Capel stated. "Ottawa hit some tough shots in the second half, but we kept guarding and our offense found a way to finish it at the end."

NOTABLE 

• Garrett Davault led the Valor with 23 points in Wednesday's win, also pulling down a team high nine rebounds.

• Bryce Ware scored 17 points to round out double digit scoring for EU.

• The Valor earned their second consecutive win on Wednesday and finished the month of January with a record of 5-3.

• Evangel shot 50 percent in the win on Wednesday.

UP NEXT 

Valor MBB returns home on Saturday (Feb. 1) afternoon, hosting the Bethel Threshers at 2:00 p.m. in AGFinancial Arena.

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.