Contact: David Fillmore, Ext. 7260
Games 14 and 15
Evangel University at Warner Southern College
Tournament - Dec. 31, Jan. 1 - Avon Park, Fla.
The Evangel men’s basketball games will be broadcast live on ESPN Radio (KGMY, 1400 AM) and will be webcast at www.evangel.edu. Ed Beach, Evangel’s director of athletics marketing and broadcasting, will handle the play-by-play.
After taking a 20-day break for the Christmas holiday, the Evangel Crusaders will play in the Warner Southern College Days Inn Tournament in Lake Wales, Fla. Warner Southern’s gymnasium was destroyed by tornadoes so the tournament will be held at South Florida Community College in Avon Park. On Friday, Dec. 31, Evangel will play St. Xavier ( Ill.) at 1 p.m and Warner Southern will play King College at 5 p.m. On Saturday, Jan. 1, the losers of the games on Dec. 31 will play at 1 p.m. and the winners will meet at 3 p.m. All times are Central Time.
Evangel is 4-9 overall. The Crusaders’ most recent game was on Dec. 11 at home against MidAmerica Nazarene and Evangel lost 90-88 in overtime. Jerod Floyd hit a 3-pointer to send the game in to overtime and finished with 20 points. EU was led by Tim Dial’s 24 pointsa nd seven rebounds. Ryan Luethy added 20 points and Trent Barney had 11 in the Heart of America Athletic Conference game.
St. Xavier University ( Ill.) is 12-2 and ranked No. 25 in NAIA I. The Cougars play at Tampa University on Dec. 30, prior to playing in the Warner Southern Tournament.
King College ( Tenn.) is 5-9. The Tornado are a NAIA II member. King’s most recent game resulted in an 83-75 loss at home to Tusculum on Dec. 14.
Warner Southern is 2-9 and played most recently in its own Classic. In the classic, the Royals lost to Olivet Nazarene 83-81 on Dec. 17 and lost to The Master’s College 81-72 on Dec. 18.
The series is tied 1-1 between Evangel and Warner Southern. Evangel lost at Warner Southern, 95-93, in overtime on Jan. 6, 1990. Last season, Evangel lost 95-82 at Warner Southern on Jan. 3, however, Warner Southern forfeited the win due to the use of an ineligible player.
Evangel has never played King College or St. Xavier.
Evangel is led by Steve Jenkins in his 23rd year. Jenkins has a 390-315 overall record. He needs 10 more victories to record his 400th. Jenkins coached his 700th game at Evangel against Pittsburg State on Nov. 29.
St. Xavier is led by Tom O’Malley in his eighth year. Scott Polsgrove is in his 13th year as the head coach for King College. Warner Southern’s head coach is Kory Bays. He began his sixth year in 2004-05.
Ryan Luethy (13.1), Tim Dial (12.9) and Jerod Floyd (11.5) are the scoring leaders. The rebounding is led by Dial (6.2) and Todd Simon (4.5). Trent Barney has 53 assists and he leads the team in steals with 19. Simon has made 52.5 percent of his field goals (42-80). Luethy has been successful on 42 of 45 free throws and is ranked No. 2 in NAIA II with a 93.3 percentage.
Individual
Free Throw Pct. - Ryan Luethy, #2, 93.3
Tim Dial (24 points), Jerod Floyd (20 points), and Richard Morantus (6 points) set new season highs in the overtime game against MidAmerica Nazarene. The point totals were also career highs for Dial and Morantus. Morantus also set a new personal career best with five rebounds.
The Crusaders have participated in 57 overtime games. Evangel is 40-17 (.702) in those contests. EU has had two overtime games this year and has lost both. The Crusaders dropped an 80-77 OT game at Culver-Stockton on Dec. 4 and lost 90-88 to No. 12-ranked MidAmerica Nazarene at home on Dec. 11.
Evangel senior Rich Baker (6-3, G/F) has been lost for the remainder of the season due to a shoulder injury. Baker played in five games this season and scored 19 points, totaled six rebounds, dished out six assists and had three steals. He is a 1997 graduate of Springfield’s Parkview High School and played two seasons at St. Fair Community College before transferring to Evangel. Baker won the team’s Sixth Man award at the end of the 2003-04 season.
Luke Cooper scored two 3-pointers versus College of the Ozarks on Dec. 7 to move into the No. 10 spot in career 3-pointers made. He now has 108. Ryan Luethy is at No. 12 with 105.
| Rank | Points | Player | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 230 | Grant Curtis | 2000-04 |
| 2 | 201 | Mike Hawkins | 1997-01 |
| 3 | 176 | Rex Stephens | 1989-93 |
| 4 | 168 | Daniel Cutbirth | 1998-02 |
| 5 | 155 | Ryan Wakley | 1992-96 |
| 6 | 141 | Kevin Baker | 1988-89,92-95 |
| 7 | 125 | Chris Wilson | 1995-98 |
| 8 | 122 | Brock Blansit | 1993-97 |
| 9 | 114 | Maury Leitzke | 1995-97 |
| 10 | 109 | Ryan Luethy | 2002- |
| 11 | 108 | Luke Cooper | 2001- |
| Player | Fr. | So. | Jr. | Sr. | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ryan Luethy | 9 |
13 |
8 |
- |
30 |
| Luke Cooper | 1 |
3 |
11 |
5 |
20 |
| Jerod Floyd | 6 |
7 |
- |
- |
13 |
| Tim Dial | 9 |
- |
- |
- |
9 |
| Rich Baker | x |
x |
5 |
0 |
5 |
| Todd Simon | 5 |
- |
- |
- |
5 |
| Trent Barney | 2 |
3 |
- |
- |
5 |
| Joel Brown | 1 |
- |
- |
- |
1 |
| Kyle Dobbs | 0 |
1 |
- |
- |
1 |