The Basics 

Score: Evangel 70, Kansas Wesleyan 72

Location: Salina, Kan. (Mabee Arena)

Records: Evangel (12-6, 8-4), Kansas Wesleyan (7-10, 5-7)

Box Score 

SALINA, Kan. -- Evangel Men's Basketball hit the road on Saturday (Jan. 17) afternoon, taking on the Kansas Wesleyan Coyotes in Salina, looking to take their third consecutive win in conference play. Despite holding a narrow halftime lead, the Valor could not continue their streak of strong second half games, as free throw shooting woes came back to bite Evangel in a 72-70 loss to Kansas Wesleyan on the road.

Both teams struggled early to score on Saturday, as the first made field goal came at the 17:40 mark from Evangel's Drew McMillin on a three pointer, following a pair of free throw makes from Kansas Wesleyan. The Coyotes would lead by a slight margin for the majority of the first half, as Evangel could not piece together stops and scores on the offensive end on ensuing possessions. As both teams traded baskets, it was Garrett Davault who generated a brief EU run late in the quarter to give the Valor a lead before McMillin and Ty Campbell used baskets to close the first half with the Valor on top, 38-36.

Despite being a strong second half team for the majority of the season, Evangel took a step back offensively in the final half of play. After Jacob Lafferty scored a free throw at the 17:50 mark to give EU a 41-38 lead, the Coyotes used an 8-0 run to take a 46-41 lead over the Valor. A McMillin basket at the 14:00 minute mark would be the last basket by any Evangel player not named Garrett Davault over the following 8:14, as Davault kept the Valor within reach of the Kansas Wesleyan lead, scoring 13 points in the span. EU trailed by five points with 4:24 remaining in the game, but EU would draw within a point after baskets from Davault and Ty Campbell, with 1:35 remaining, 69-68. Both teams traded empty possessions, before KWU hit the back end of a pair of free throws to lead 70-68. The Valor closed the game out with a trio of opportunities, but could not capitalize on the KWU turnover, as the Coyotes hit a pair of free throws to take a two possession lead with just 1.7 seconds remaining. Harrison Doennig added a basket at the buzzer, but the damage had been done, as EU fell 72-70 on Saturday.

QUOTABLE 

"I thought we did a good job of handling their press and trapping the whole game," head coach Bert Capel stated. "We had our chances on offense with some great looks and opportunities at the free throw line down the stretch, but couldn't finish them."

NOTABLE 

• Garrett Davault led Evangel with 25 points in the loss.

• Drew McMillin rounded out double digit scoring on Saturday, adding 17 to Evangel's total.

• Evangel shot 13-23 from the charity stripe in Saturday's loss.

UP NEXT

Evangel MBB hosts the 4th-ranked Oklahoma Wesleyan Eagles on Wednesday (Jan. 21) evening at 7:30 p.m. to open a three game homestand.

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