Men's basketball knocks off #1 Oklahoma Baptist 79-66

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Springfield, Mo. – Evangel shot 61 percent from the field in the second half to knock off #1 ranked Oklahoma Baptist 79-66 Saturday at the Ashcroft Center.

The 18^th ranked Crusaders made 17 of 28 shots from the field and connected on 4 of 8 three-point attempts in the second half on their way to outscoring the Bison 44-34 after halftime. Evangel owned a 35-32 lead at the break.

Evangel’s Zack Kleine led all scorers with 22 points while Victor Agbasi had a season high 18.

Evangel shot 53 percent from the field in the game while Oklahoma Baptist made 42 percent of their shots including going 4 for 12 from three-point range.

The Crusaders extended their halftime lead with 16-5 run in the first seven minutes of the half to go ahead 51-37 with 13:08 remaining. The Bison quickly chopped the lead to five going on a 9-0 run but Evangel built the lead back to double-digits going ahead 58-46 with 8:41 left and held off Oklahoma Baptist for the win.

The Bison were led David Johnson’s 18 points while Marques Anderson had 17 points and 10 rebounds.

Evangel improved to 9-4 while Oklahoma Baptist suffered just their second loss dropping to 12-2.

Evangel returns to conference play on Jan. 3 when they play at Missouri Valley. Tipoff is 7:30 p.m. in Marshall, Mo.

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