The Basics 

Score: Evangel 72, #4 Oklahoma Wesleyan 75

Location: Springfield, Mo. (AGFinancial Arena)

Records: Evangel (12-7, 8-5), Oklahoma Wesleyan (17-2, 12-1)

Box Score 

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Evangel Men's Basketball returned home on Wednesday (Jan. 21) evening, hosting the 4th ranked Oklahoma Wesleyan Eagles, looking to bounce back and pull off an upset of the nationally ranked opponent. Evangel battled and put up a strong showing, but ultimately came up just short of the upset win over #4 Oklahoma Wesleyan, falling 75-72.

Oklahoma Wesleyan jumped out to an early 5-0 lead on Wednesday night, before Drew McMillin and Jacob Lafferty fueled a quick 6-0 run to give EU a 6-5 lead with 16:20 on the clock. OKWU responded by taking a five point lead over Evangel, 11-6, and then, 13-8, with 13:40 remaining in the half. A Lafferty bucket paired with a three pointer from Luke Foster tied the game up at 13, before Tommy Pinegar nailed a three to give the Valor a 16-13 lead. The Eagles recaptured the lead and led by a point before Pinegar nailed a three pointer from the mane of the Valor logo to re-give EU a two point lead, 21-19. Evangel and Oklahoma Wesleyan traded the lead on several different buckets, but a three from McMillin and free throws from Ty Campbell made it a 37-36 game in favor of EU at halftime.

Evangel came out hot to open the second half as the Valor took as large as a seven point lead (45-38) over the Eagles as Harrison Doennig scored a pair of baskets to get momentum rolling. Oklahoma Wesleyan did not go down without a fight though, using a 15-0 run to take a 53-45 lead over Evangel. The Valor knew they would be in for a fight to the finish, taking on one of the top teams in the nation, and EU responded by taking a two point lead, as McMillin nailed a three pointer with 10:21 remaining. The Eagles were able to jump out to a seven point lead, but the Valor slowly chipped away, as baskets from Lafferty and Davault tied the game up at 72-72 with 1:32 remaining in the contest. The Valor were able to get a stop on OKWU's following possession, but were unable to grab a lead, missing a floater and allowing OKWU to re-gain possession. OKWU was able to hit a trio of free throws to lead 75-72, and Evangel's attempt at the buzzer was too strong, as the upset attempt came up just short on Wednesday, 75-72.

QUOTABLE 

"I thought we had too many turnovers tonight which resulted in easy points for OKWU," head coach Bert Capel stated. "Oklahoma Wesleyan is a very good team and we hurt ourselves by giving them 25 points off of turnovers."

NOTABLE 

• Jacob Lafferty led Evangel with 17 points in the loss.

• Garrett Davault (15 pts.) and Drew McMillin (14 pts.) rounded out double digit scoring on Wednesday.

• Lafferty pulled down a team high six rebounds.

• Ty Campbell passed off six assists in the loss.

• Evangel shot 51 percent on Wednesday's, but turned the ball over 21 times in the narrow defeat.

UP NEXT

Evangel MBB takes on the Sterling College Warriors at 7:00 p.m. on Friday (Jan. 23) night in AGFinancial Arena.

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