OPINION |
Two higher-profile men’s college basketball programs from higher divisions also will be playing home games on Saturday, but for casual fans wanting to check out Springfield’s hidden gem here is a suggestion.
Make the trip over to Evangel University’s Ashcroft Center. You might just like what you see.
The Evangel Valor are 9-1 with an eight-game winning streak and are ranked No. 13 nationally in the NAIA. The basketball is high quality, entertaining and several Ozarks-area players are contributing.
Second-year Evangel head coach Bert Capel, whose team plays host to Mount Mercy of Iowa at 2 p.m. Saturday, said his program is fun to watch. And fun to coach.
“We play hard,” Capel said. “We try to compete in every game, no matter if we’re making shots or not. There may be nights we’re not as talented as the other team, but we’re going to give it our best.
“I think we do a good job of playing together. I don’t think you’ll see much selfishness. It’s a group of guys who have some goals in mind. They’re playing hard and playing together.”
High expectations for this season
Evangel employs a motion offense that averages 75 points per game and values the basketball, turning it over only 11.5 times per contest. Defensively, it gets after the opposition for 40 minutes. The aging Ashcroft Center is a fun venue, with acoustics making a crowd of 500 sound more like 5,000.
Josh Pritchett, a 6-4 guard from Rolla, leads the Valor offense with a 16.5-point average. He’s one of several returnees from last season’s Evangel team that made a surprising run to the NAIA national tournament in Capel’s first season as head coach.
A standout player on Evangel’s 2002 NAIA Division II championship team (there now is only a single NAIA division) Capel said the Valor came into the season a confident bunch. Perhaps even a bit too confident.
“The expectations were relatively high,” Capel said. “Having a bunch of returners back doesn’t guarantee anything, but we felt that we knew what we wanted to do and what the plan was. I knew them, they knew me and we hit the ground running at the beginning of the year.”
Early loss gives Valor a reality check
But a loss to Sterling in game two was a reality check.
“I think that woke us up a little bit,” Capel said. “We said, ‘Hey, just because we have a good team, we can’t play like that. It’s not gonna happen.’ We figured it out pretty quickly.”
The Valor has rolled up eight wins in a row, including four Heart of America Athletic Conference victories. The battle now is dealing with the attention that a national ranking brings.
“Now we are ranked and have a big target on our back and everybody is gunning for us, just like we would if we were playing other ranked teams,” Capel said. “That’s where we are now, just understanding how to win and how we’re going to get everyone’s best shot from here on out.”
Rolla's Josh Pritchett leads the way
Pritchett has been a solid centerpiece and leader.
“My first year with Jenkins was also Josh’s first year. To see him go from a freshman to now taking the team and leadership-wise has been cool,” Capel said. “He’s been good this year. Very consistent.
“Early in his career he would play two or three games, really good, then have a game where he would do some boneheaded stuff. Now he’s done good stuff and been very consistent.”
Junior guard Manrique Alvarado, from Carago, Costa Rica, averages 11 points and Stephen Salvi, a junior guard from Boca Raton, Florida, is at 9.8 points. Bryce Hunt, the team’s lone NCAA DI transfer (Coppin State) has been a defensive mainstay in the post.
Local players contributing to the success off the bench include Springfield Parkview grad Autry Acord, Norwood’s Garrett Davault and Republic’s Broc Smith.
Headed for the holidays with momentum
Before an extended holiday break, the Valor has three games remaining — Saturday against Mount Mercy, Dec. 14 at Baker and Dec. 17 at home against Peru State. If Evangel takes care of business, it would be 12-1 and headed for a merry Christmas.
Capel’s message to his team? Finish strong.
“We’re off to a good start, so no letting up,” he said. “Understanding that any team we play is going to give us their best shot. We need to match that energy and toughness right away.”
As for the rest of the season and a possible return to the NAIA tournament (Evangel lost a 75-72 heartbreaker last March in the opening round to Florida College) Capel said there is too much basketball to be played to think about that.
“We’ll give it our best shot and see what happens,” Capel said.
