Phillip Dowden (Evangel Sports Information) SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – The Evangel University men’s basketball team fell to a red-hot shooting Missouri Valley team, 86-71, Thursday night at the Ashcroft Center.
The Vikings shot a blistering 69 percent from the field in the second half to finish at 59 percent shooting in the game. Evangel shot 44 percent and placed five players in double figures, but the Vikings were 20-of-29 from the field in the second half and out-rebounded the Crusaders 40-25.
Evangel pulled within five at 63-58 off a Josue Levy put back with 8:59 left in the game. However, the Vikings went on 9-3 run to push the lead back to double digits at 72-61 with six minutes left in the game and never looked back.
The Crusaders were also cold from behind the three-point arc going just 3-of-20 in the loss.
Richard Chapman led Evangel with 15 points and five assists while Marcus Miller added 14 points.
Missouri Valley was paced by Brody Gronewold who finished with 20 points including four three-pointers.
Evangel makes a quick turnaround on the road heading north to face William Penn on Saturday. Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m.
Women
The Evangel women’s basketball team was unable to complete a fourth quarter comeback Thursday night falling, 71-67 to Missouri Valley in Heart Conference action.
Taylor Longley scored a game-high 21 points as the Crusaders also forced 22 Missouri Valley turnovers. However, the Vikings shot 53 percent from the field in the second half to keep the Crusaders at bay.
Both teams continued to work in the paint as late free throws tied the game at 34-34 heading into halftime.
Missouri Valley would edge Evangel in points in the paint, 24-18 and out-rebound the Crusaders 35-33 to go along with a hot shooting night. The Vikings were led by Deidra McCoy who scored 18 points in the win.
Senior Allison Swanson recorded her first double-double of the season with 18 points and 14 rebounds for Evangel.
Evangel makes a quick turnaround on the road heading north to face William Penn on Saturday. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m.
