February 27, 2008
Contact: Evangel University Athletics 865-2815, Ext. 7282
Game 31
No. 3 Evangel vs. Lindenwood
7 p.m. February 27
Ashcroft Center: Springfield, Mo.
HAAC Tournament - First Round
The Evangel University men (24-6) will host Lindenwood University (14-16) in a first round game of the Heart of America Athletic Conference tournament on Wednesday, Feb. 27. Game time is 7 p.m. in Ashcroft Center. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN Radio 1400 AM (KGMY) and webcast at www.allinbroadcasting.com. Ed Beach will handle the play-by-play. Leslie Callison will provide the color commentary.
The Evangel and MidAmerica Nazarene men tied for the conference title (17-3). MidAmerica held the tie-breaker versus Evangel and is seeded No. 1 in the tournament. Evangel’s conference championship is its fourth.
Evangel leads the series 38-7 and
has won the last five meetings,
including this season’s 81-64 win
at home on Jan. 10 and 79-65 win
in St. Charles, Mo., on Feb. 14.
At home, Evangel leads the series with Lindenwood, 12-4, and has won 9 of the last 10 games, including the last four played in Ashcroft. Lindenwood’s win at Evangel during the ninegame span was five meetings ago (Feb. 17, 2005) by an 80-75 score. EU defeated LU in Ashcroft, 81- 64, this season on Jan. 10.
The Crusaders defeated Baker, 77- 43, on Feb. 23 to end their 2007-08 regular season. Twelve Evangel players played and all had at least two points. Jackson Capel led the team with 15 points and eight rebounds. He made all eight of his free throw attempts. Tim Dial and Todd Simon added 10 points each and Dial pulled down six rebounds.
Evangel made 46.8 percent of its field goals to Baker’s 26.0. EU is averaging nearly 16 3-point attempts a game, but attempted a season-low (tied the Friends’ game) nine treys, making four. At the line EU missed only one of 16 tries for a 93.8. Baker, meanwhile, put up 21 3-pointers and made six (.286) and hit 11 of 16 free throws (.688). Evangel had a 40-34 rebounding advantage and few turnovers, 18-10. EU outscored Baker in the paint (32-8), off turnovers (20-5) and off the bench (31-19).
Lindenwood lost by a point, 65- 64, at Benedictine on Feb. 21 to end its regular season. Benedictine led 34- 29 at halftime. Benedictine went on a 9-3 run early in the second half that gave the host Ravens their biggest lead of the game at 12 points. Lindenwood outscored Benedictine 17-6 over the final 10 minutes of the game, however, Benedictine scored the final three points to gain the win. With less than 35 seconds remaining, Benedictine had the ball and was down, 64-63. The Ravens let the minutes tick off the clock and a fadeaway jumper by Drew Huppe proved to be the game-winner with less than two seconds left in the contest.
Jason Schneider led Lindenwood with 14 pointsand Travis Hawkins added 13. Aaron Brinker came off the bench to pull down eight rebounds.
Lindenwood made 50.0 percent
of its floor efforts to Benedictine’s
41.9 (38.7 in second half). LU also
shot better beyond the 3-point arc,
44.4 percent (8-18) to BC’s 26.7
percent (4-15). At the line,
Lindenwood made 8 of 11 for a 72.7
percentage and Benedictine hit 9 of
14 free throws for a 65.3 percentage.
Benedictine led the rebounding 37-28
and had fewer turnovers, 21-16. BC
outscored Lindenwood, 28-16, in the
paint.
Evangel has played in 62 overtime games and is 43-19 (.694) in those contests. The Crusaders have had four overtime games during the 2007- 08 season. EU won 72-69 at Central Methodist on Nov. 29 and won 98-93 at Benedictine on Dec. 2. On Feb. 7, EU lost at MidAmerica Nazarene, 93-85. The Crusaders then won 105-104 in double-overtime at home versus Missouri Valley on Feb. 16.
Winners of semifinals, at higher seed
Mar. 12-18 * College of Ozarks: Pt. Lookout, Mo.
| Rank | Team | Conference Record |
Overall Record |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | MidAmerica Nazarene | 17-3 | 27-3 |
| Evangel | 17-3 | 24-6 | |
| 3 | Central Methodist | 14-6 | 19-11 |
| William Jewell | 14-6 | 18-12 | |
| 5 | Missouri Valley | 9-11 | 9-20 |
| 6 | Lindenwood | 8-12 | 14-16 |
| Benedictine | 8-12 | 13-16 | |
| 8 | Graceland | 7-13 | 11-19 |
| 9 | Baker | 6-14 | 9-20 |
| 10 | Avila | 5-15 | 8-20 |
| Culver-Stockton | 5-15 | 8-21 |