Late First Half Run by Evangel Pushes Them Past Graceland

LAMONI - The Graceland University men's basketball team fell last night to Evangel University, 94-79 for their third straight loss. With the loss, the Yellowjackets fall to 7-12 overall and 4-9 in the Heart of America Athletic Conference (Heart).

The first half started as a very evenly matched contest as teams exchanged leads in the first 5-10 minutes. At the 12:28 mark, Nick Coleman hit a three-pointer to put Graceland up 10-6, their largest lead of the game. Evangel would answer back the next possession with a three of their own to cut their deficit to one point. Late in the half, the Crusaders would spark a run to gain the lead and take a double-digit lead over Graceland. In the final minute, they led by as much as 17 but a Trey Newsham three before the buzzer cut the deficit down to 14 at halftime.

Graceland would quickly get back into the game as they had Evangel's lead trimmed down to just seven at the 17-minute mark. A minute later after another Evangel bucket, Graceland got it back to seven again with just under 16 minutes remaining. Evangel put together an 8-2 run to pull away and get their lead back to double-digits. Down the stretch, Evangel was put on the free throw line several times and converted opportunities there to hold off Graceland late.

As a team, Graceland shot the ball well from the field going 27 of 56 for 48% and shot 68% from the free throw line. In comparison, Evangel shot 42% from the field and had 42 free throw attempts for the game as they shot 74% from the charity stripe. For the Crusaders, 31 of their 42 free throw attempts came in the second half. Individually for the Yellowjackets, Virgil Walker Jr. had a team-high in points with 24 as well as seven rebounds. Nick Coleman added 17 points and had a team-high five assists.

Graceland's men will look to end their three-game losing streak on Saturday afternoon as they travel to Baker University. The game is set for a 4 pm tip-off. Earlier in the season, Baker outlasted the Yellowjackets in their first matchup in overtime.

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