Culver-Stockton outscored Evangel 48-34 in the second half as they ended a four-game losing streak to beat the Crusaders 90-79 at the Ashcroft Center on Saturday.
The Wildcats shot 53 percent from the field hitting 32 of 61 shots. Victor Jones led all scorers with 27 points for Culver-Stockton on 9 of 13 shooting and he was 3 for 4 on three-point attempts. Jojuan Graham added 20 points.
Evangel had four players in double-figures led by Marcus Miller’s 21 points. Cody Geiger added 18.
The Crusaders owned a 45-42 lead at halftime and led by as much as 11 in the first half. Culver-Stockton ended the half on a 9-3 run capped by a Francsec Itturria lay-up as time expired in the half.
“I was disappointed about the way we closed out the first half,” said Evangel head coach Steve Jenkins. “They went length of the floor for that lay-up in less than four seconds and that gave them a spark going into the locker room. Then they started the second half on fire.”
Evangel dropped to 3-15 and 2-8 in the Heart of America conference. Culver-Stockton improved to 8-10 and 4-6 in the league.
Evangel plays again on Wednesday traveling to Missouri Valley. Tipoff is 7:30 p.m. in Marshall, Missouri.
