Evangel battled back from an 11 point deficit in the third quarter to move into a fourth period tie but Grand View pulled away in the final three minutes for a 66-60 win over the Crusaders in the first round of the Heart of America conference tournament Tuesday in Des Moines, Iowa.
Evangel trailed 43-32 midway through the third but the Crusaders chipped away and a lay-up at the end of the third quarter by Casy Askins closed the gap to five, 49-44. Evangel kept momentum into the fourth quarter and tied the game at 54-54 with 6:18 remaining. The Vikings would close the game out on an 8-2 run, though, in the final 3:48.
“I was proud of the way we played and came back,” said head coach Leon Neal. “Grand View made some key shots down the stretch, got to a couple of more loose balls and that turned out to be the difference. We played hard but they got the ball to bounce their way a few more times.”
Allison Swanson led Evangel with 14 points, scoring all of them in the second half and 12 of them in the fourth quarter as the Crusaders rallied. The junior from Omaha added 9 rebounds.
Taylor Nashert had 18 points to lead all scorers for Grand View.
The loss ends Evangel’s season at 9-19. Grand View, 14-15, advances to the conference quarterfinals where they will play the league’s regular season champion and top seed Central Methodist on Thursday.
