Evangel players stick their team’s name on the NAIA bracket round of eight following the victory over Lewis-Clark. (Photo by Evangel University Athletics)
Evangel players stick their team’s name on the NAIA bracket round of eight following the victory over Lewis-Clark. (Photo by Evangel University Athletics)

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The dream postseason run continues for Evangel University’s men’s basketball team.

The 15th-seeded Valor defeated Lewis-Clark State College (Idaho) 77-74 on March 21 in the NAIA National Tournament Round of 16 at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, advancing to the quarterfinals at 3 p.m. on March 23 against No. 1 seed Grace.

“I thought we executed our game plan really well for the first 30 minutes and then we kind of let our foot off the gas,” Evangel coach Bert Capel said. “Give LCSC credit, they made a gutsy run for the next seven minutes.

“I thought we did a great job finishing the last few minutes of the game as our defense got some big stops and Manrique (Alvarado) hit some big free throws.

“I want to give a big shout-out to all the fans who came out to support tonight, they really helped us finish out the game.”

Garrett Davault goes up for two of his team-leading 22 points in Evangel’s NAIA National Tournament victory over Lewis-Clark at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City. Evangel prevailed 77-74. (Photo by Evangel University Athletics)
Garrett Davault goes up for two of his team-leading 22 points in Evangel’s NAIA National Tournament victory over Lewis-Clark at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City. Evangel prevailed 77-74. (Photo by Evangel University Athletics)

Evangel (21-10) rolled to a 43-26 halftime lead over Lewis-Clark and held on in the final minutes, with Alvarado making four free throws in the final nine seconds to help clinch the win.

Garrett Davalt, a sophomore guard from Norwood, led the Valor with 22 points, the leading scorer for Evangel in back-to-back games.

Lady Bears season concludes with WBIT defeat

Kennedy Taylor, wearing a Missouri State Lady Bears basketball uniform, shoots the ball during a game.
Kennedy Taylor had 14 points and 12 rebounds as the Missouri State Lady Bears improved to 10-3 in the Missouri Valley Conference with a 59-51 victory Feb. 15 at Indiana State. (Photo by Missouri State Athletics)

Missouri State women's basketball (23-10) concluded its season with a 74-69 loss on the road at Illinois (15-15) in the first round of the Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament on March 21.

After Missouri State led by five at the half, Illinois put together a second-half comeback. MSU opened the third quarter with a Kyrah Daniels jumper and Paige Rocca 3-pointer to push the lead to 10 points. However, that's when the game took its big turn. Illinois put together eight straight points to cut the MSU lead to two.

The Lady Bears then responded to extend the lead back to six, but Illinois had another surge in them. The Fighting Illini ended the third quarter on a 13-3 run, holding MSU scoreless for nearly four minutes, to lead 55-51 after three quarters.

Lacy Stokes’ basket drew Missouri State within 70-68, but the Lady Bears were forced to foul and the Fighting Illini iced the game down the stretch at the free-throw line.

Stokes led the way for Missouri State with 22 points and five assists, including 16 first-half points on 6-for-9 from the field. Kennedy Taylor joined in double figures with 12 points and nine rebounds.